A Test of Faith
by Jurious
Summary: Master Dooku, his apprentice QuiGon and Jedi Knight Allyaah Jiao are summoned to go on a mission to the planet Colla IV, but it's a mission which could prove more deadly than the Jedi Council will admit... FINISHED!
1. A Mission Proposed

**Author's Notes**: OK, I don't know when this will be updated, though I have pretty much the whole story mapped out in my head. I'm guessing that this is set about 30 years before _Phantom_, but all you need to know is that Jinn is in his mid-teens, and Dooku, his master, is in his late thirties… I think. It's an adventure story that will try to establish a rift between Dooku and the Jedi Order, something which fuels his later departure from the Jedi to the dark side and the Sith. I'm guessing Syfo-Dias (sp?) is human, though I may be wrong, but go with the flow. I have introduced a new character, a female Jedi Knight, Master Jiao, too.

I wrote this earlier this year (2002), but I hope to continue soon. Enjoy.

MTFBWY ^_^ - **Jurious**

**NB: This is an edited version of my original chapter, and should be an improvement on the last. Dooku's forename is 'Serenn' in the text, by the way. Happy reading! – Jurious, 4-4-03**

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**A Test of Faith**

**A _Star Wars_ fanfic by Darth Jurious**

**Set around 30 years before _The Phantom Menace_**

**Chapter 1**

The sunlight of dawn streamed through the large windows of the Jedi Temple. In a large training hall, several Padawans trained with their Masters, honing their Jedi skills.

In one corner, fifteen-year-old Jedi Apprentice Qui-Gon Jinn, a very promising albeit headstrong student, fought blinded against a hovering training droid. The small, spherical robot flew about him, whizzing in all manner of directions, being very unpredictable. A small repulsorlift generator, embedded within its metallic flesh, suspended it in midair.

Jinn – his eyes covered by a metallic helmet – was calm and took deep, steady breaths, letting the Force flow through him. He abandoned his every sense to the Force, trusting in it with his life. He could hear the faint dash of the droid as it flew about him, knowing its location vaguely – but he knew that relying on his auditory senses was not enough. He could pinpoint its _exact_ location through use of the Force – he felt its very essence move around him, seeing it with his mind's eye, watching it within the confines of his thoughts careering around him like some disorientated bird in the most dizzying fashion. 

Qui-Gon clasped his sabre hilt firmly in his hands, licking his lips as he concentrated hard. The harmless training sabre hummed before him, its clear, blue blade illuminating his face with a faint glow. It thrummed in a mesmerising fashion, somewhat in rhythm with his calm, relaxed breaths.

The droid darted to his right rapidly – he felt it through the Force, seeing it, yet not seeing it. He remained incredibly focused, and continued to hold his stationary stance, knowing the cue to move had not yet come. Jinn often suffered from recklessness and impatience, but he was slowly overcoming his flaws. Today, he was concentrating as hard as he could, wanting to impress his tutor, the revered Jedi Master, Serenn Dooku. 

The droid wheeled round over his head, and then prepared to strike with one of its short, sharp laser-pellets; sensing the impending assault acutely as the Force alerted him to the attack, Jinn turned about on his feet a-hundred-and-eighty degrees, and placed his sabre back over his shoulder.

The droid released the laser blast – and Jinn parried the shot perfectly! He heard the laser bullet ricochet off his blue training sabre blade, and fly across the room. He allowed himself a discreet smile – he had done it! He had effectively maintained focus throughout his entire session, and deflected blow after blow, blinded from the training droid!

As a Jedi, you did such exercises from when very young, but the training sessions of this nature increased in intensity as the apprentice grew. Jinn had just faced a robot set at a much more advanced training level – and this was the first time he had conquered the droid of this rank.

Qui-Gon deactivated his training sabre, and lifted the metallic helmet from off head, revealing his blue eyes, "Master! Did you see -"

He stopped dead in his sentence; his Master was no longer stood before him. Jinn frowned as the training droid lowered itself to the floor, deactivating now that the exercise was complete. He looked about the hall, passing his eyes over a few more Jedi training in the vicinity – there was a group of particularly young Padawans being instructed in one corner; when young, apprentices were often tutored in groups. It helped them to socialise, and wasn't quite so daunting for them.

He continued to look round, wandering where his Master – and therefore, his praise – was. He turned about and spotted him by a giant golden statue of a long deceased, but still respected, Jedi Knight; he was talking to another Jedi, a female one named Allyaah Jiao. 

Jinn sighed, placed the helmet down by the droid, and began to trudge over.

Allyaah was human, though her skin was of a rich brown pigment instead of the white complexion that Dooku and his Padawan shared; she had large eyes and long, tied-back black hair, and wore russet-coloured Jedi robes, with a pale orange belt about her waist. She was still a Jedi Knight, and, at around thirty years old, it was fairly unusual that she had failed to take on a Padawan of her own yet – but not unheard of. She and Dooku had been long acquaintances, although Dooku was around eight years her senior. 

At a distance, it was plain that Dooku dwarfed the female Jedi in height; he was taller than the average human male anyway, with a distinguished, deep tone of voice and a proud, domineering air. His hair was also black, currently grown long and tied back in a tidy ponytail, like how many Jedi wore it, and his visage was decorated with a small beard and trim moustache; all this was finally complemented by his deep, brown pair of eyes, infamous for their commanding authority and intense potency. Whilst his robes were of a beige colour, his Padawan was clad in white ones, though Jinn would have much preferred beige – '_Just a bit of colour would be nice, Master'_ he often said. 

"Master," Qui-Gon said as he reached the Jedi, a slight touch of whine evident in his tone, although his respect for his Master conquered it, "Where'd you go all of a sudden? I finally defeated the droid, and you weren't there to see it…" 

Dooku turned to Qui-Gon abruptly, looking down upon his Padawan's brow, "Forgive me, Qui-Gon," he said somewhat hastily, almost dismissively, "It seems that I have important matters to attend to immediately. I called after you, but you clearly failed to hear me."

"He was concentrating hard, Master Dooku," Allyaah said with a smile toward her counterpart's apprentice; she looked to Serenn's Padawan kindly, "Forgive me, Qui-Gon, for drawing your Master away."

Jinn gave her a returning friendly smile, "If the matter is of some importance, then you need not apologise, Master Jiao," he said in a somewhat illustrious tone, bowing in respect to follow up his polite words.

Jiao faintly laughed, "He's growing into your boots, Master Dooku," she stated, looking from Jinn to his mentor.

Dooku allowed a slight grin, "Indeed, he is," he acknowledged, placing a hand onto the teenage Padawan's shoulders, "It is my apologies that are due, Qui-Gon. But, as I stated previously, important matters are at hand."

Serenn looked to Jiao, handing her the cue, "Yes," she explained, "The Council wishes to see you without delay. They wish to address you and your Padawan now – on some urgent matter, I believe."

Jinn looked to his Master, raising an eyebrow in curiosity; Dooku remained silent for a moment, contemplating the meaning of this. The buzzing of Coruscant's air traffic outside hummed in the short, silent lull, just penetrating the Temple's magnificently thick walls. 

"Regarding what? Do you have any idea at all?" Dooku asked Jiao discreetly, his deep tone considerably hushed, his eyes sharp and serious.

Allyaah was at a loss to answer the Jedi Master, "No, I'm afraid I don't, though I'm pretty certain that there is some 'mission' involved for you."

Qui-Gon's countenance lit up, and he almost jumped at the words as Allyaah uttered them, "Wow! My first mission!"

Dooku glanced down at Qui-Gon, not so light-hearted – he knew very well how arduous, and often tedious, Jedi missions were, "No one has announced your presence on this 'assignment' yet, Qui-Gon. We don't even know the nature of that which we have been summoned for." 

Jinn was quick to respond, "But she –"

Dooku eyed him with an intimidating gaze, and Qui-Gon suddenly felt guilty for his effrontery. He gulped, quickly glimpsing down and rephrasing his words, "But Master Jiao said that the Council wishes to see us _both_. And she seems pretty confident that it is a mission that we have been summoned for." He looked to his teacher with a hopeful, youthful glance. Serenn could relate to such recklessness and to such a desire for excitement – he had been there, too – but life was never as pleasant as one hoped it to be; youthful dreams were quashed by the painful face of reality. Young Padawans were never meant to lust for exhilaration and adventure – but no one could help being a child.

"Qui-Gon," Dooku said, his tone deep and almost threatening as he pummelled Jinn's eyes with his own, "Heed my warnings, and **do not** answer me back."

The two paused, staring hard at each other. Allyaah silently looked between them, and tried to release a little tension from the moment by intervening, "Do listen to your Master, Qui-Gon. He'll teach you lessons you'll value for the rest of your life."

Serenn glanced at Allyaah silently, unsure of how he felt about such an intrusion on her part. Allyaah returned the brief glance, a fond and friendly one, before looking upon Jinn again.

Qui-Gon thought about what she had said briefly, and looked to her attentively, a slight smile raising at the corner of his mouth, "Yes, Master, I will," he quietly said, bowing in respect to the female Jedi. He kept silent after that, a solemn aura having been set for the moment.   

Allyaah nodded in return, acknowledging Jinn's good manners, before she looked to Dooku again; his gaze seemed to have not moved from her, as though he were studying her intently for some hidden meaning and agenda. She felt a little uncomfortable beneath his potent stare, wondering if he had not appreciated her intercession, but she refrained from buckling under the pressure he applied.

"I think you had better go now. The Jedi Council do not appreciate being delayed; time waits for no one," she said softly, yet gravely, putting her hands to her belt and holding them there.

Dooku continued to hold her in his eyes, and slowly nodded as he registered her comments, "Yes. But a Jedi must also be patient." 

Allyaah's brow furrowed. She was not sure how to respond to that, and she felt it better if she didn't. Before she could even contemplate a response, however, Dooku patted his hand upon Jinn's shoulder, and said to the boy, "Come, Qui-Gon," He nodded to Jiao in a parting gesture of good will, and brushed past her, walking on ahead.

Jinn watched his Master make a brief head start, before he nodded to Allyaah, in something of an impersonation of his Master, smiling charmingly, and then trotted off to catch up with Dooku. Jiao turned to watch them go, following the pair with her eyes until they were out of sight from the training hall. They were so different, yet so similar.

***            *           *          ***

The Jedi Council chamber was daunting to say the least. Jinn had grown considerably since he had last been in here, so was not quite so intimidated by it now – but to be surrounded by twelve of the Jedi Orders' greatest, stood vulnerably in the room's midpoint, was fairly unpleasant and pressurising, no matter at what Jedi rank you were. 

He let his blue eyes course across the faces in his vision's range, intimidated by the eyes that were pinned upon him and his Master, as they stood central to the circular area. Part of the pressure was the knowing that there were Jedi behind you as well as infront, watching your every move. This, Jinn did not like; it was like being trapped by some invisible barrier. 

Jinn looked up to Dooku; his Master was not daunted at all – infact he seemed quite comfortable and calm. Jinn admired his Master for such attributes; someday he would stand here, and be fearless and bold, just like his great Master Dooku.

Master Yoda was seated straight ahead of the two Jedi, with Syfo-Dias, an aging human male to his left and a Quarren to his right. Yoda was possibly the most respected of the Jedi – he had been a Jedi Master for centuries, and had long served upon the Jedi Council. He was legendary amongst Padawans and Knights alike, and no one could quite imagine the Jedi organization without him. Despite his legacy, very little was known about him – even of what species he was or from whence he had come. And, to top it all off, Yoda's last Padawan had been none other than Jinn's Master, Dooku, a Jedi fast becoming one of the most revered of his generation.

"Master Dooku," Syfo-Dias greeted the Jedi Master with a nod; Jinn guessed that Dias was middle-aged. He had long black hair, going grey, with a distinguished, bony face, decorated with a tight beard and moustache. His visage was cold and unforgiving, although there had been rumours that he could be a pleasant enough guy when he wanted to be, belying his appearance. His voice contrasted greatly to Dooku's, being reasonably frail and light.  

"How may I be of service to you, my Masters?" Dooku asked; his voice seemed neutral, void of emotion. Jinn remained silent, trying to remain calm under the claustrophobic pressure of the chamber.

Syfo-Dias leant forward, "There are problems again concerning Colla IV," he explained quietly yet sternly, gesturing a little toward Dooku with his fingers.

Dooku wanted to roll his eyes upon hearing this news, but he refrained himself; Colla IV was home planet to the brutal Colicoids, powerful and merciless beetle-like beasts. Although sentient, they were hardly considered 'civilised', believing in horrific blood sports, sacrifice and mortal combat. They were also staunch isolationists, and wished not to ever join the Republic. They liked their seclusion on the Outer Rim, although their welfare did depend on their flourishing Droid trade.

"The Colicoids are _always_ causing problems," Dooku stated sharply. Jinn looked up to his Master, personally unfamiliar with the Colicoids and their home planet.

"Your prejudice, you must mind, Dooku!" Yoda cautioned his old Padawan austerely, feeling the need to voice his feelings for the first time, "A bane to a Jedi, short-sight is."

Dooku acknowledged Yoda's advice with something of a curt nod, seeming to want to push on with the matter. 

Syfo-Dias then continued, his ice-blue eyes piercing Dooku's deep chocolate ones, "Two Jedi were sent to the Colla system to discuss terms of uniting their planets to the Republic. We received word from the Knights of their safe arrival upon the planet, and of two following days of successful negotiation, but then –"

"They seemed to disappear without a trace and have not returned," Dooku interrupted with a confident, yet melancholy aura. His visage was locked in a deep frown, his deep voice measured and intimidating.

"Dooku," Yoda sighed, "Presume again you do!"  

Dooku did not falter at Yoda's words - he was convinced that negotiations with the Colicoids, concerning union with the Republic, would forever prove fruitless. He felt that any attempt to converse with these creatures via sending mediators to their planet was something akin to allocating these selected delegates the death sentence. The Colicoids had mysteriously 'consumed' all who had entered their domain whose interests were not analogous to their own. 

"Nevertheless," Odyn, a Rodian member of the Jedi Council said, sat behind Dooku and Jinn, "Master Dooku is correct."

Yoda glanced at Odyn - Dooku was correct, true, but Odyn had also handed Dooku's prejudice and arrogance victory, and it was that that Yoda felt was uncalled for. He knew that things could have been dealt with slightly differently and with more subtlety. But Dooku was no longer a Padawan; he was a fully-grown Knight, and a fully-grown man, and he should have already learnt such lessons. But he had always possessed a certain reckless streak, something that even Yoda had failed to draw out of him. 

Syfo now picked up from where he had left off, "Yes, Master Dooku," he said quietly, somewhat bitterly, "I'm afraid that you have presumed right." 

Dooku and Dias glared hard into one-another's eyes. Jinn felt the friction between their potent gazes, watching as they stared rigidly at each other, their rivalry a silent and almost unnoticeable one. He wasn't knowledgeable of his Master's full past – infact, he was certain that few _were_ – but he had slowly worked out over the years that something had gone on between the two. And of that he was sure he would remain eternally ignorant, too.

Dias went on monotonously, "This is another in a long line of cases where visitors to the Colicoids have inexplicably vanished. We have been unable to make contact with them over the issue, therefore we have reached the verdict that the Jedi must take action."

A discreet, downward glance from Yoda told the vigilant Dooku that his old Master did not agree with such an exploit; Serenn restored his gaze to Syfo's eyes, "I don't wish to dwell on the ignorant idea that sending visitors to the Colla worlds will solve anything, so I would appreciate knowing exactly how the Jedi are going to be of any use."

Dias was far from impressed with Dooku's reckless impertinence, "Master Dooku," he said sharply, with some authority in his tone, "I do not appreciate such a negative attitude from such a highly ranked member of the Jedi corps!"

Dooku remained unmoved and courageously held a silent stance, holding his vindictive stare upon Dias. Jinn worried a little at his Master's actions, but saw sense in his words.

"We have assigned you, your Padawan and another Jedi to travel to Colla IV to discover the exact circumstances surrounding our lost Jedis' disappearance. You will take no weapons, except your lightsabres, and will hold no threat towards the Colicoids - that includes in your attitude, Master Dooku," Dias explained, "They should have no reason to feel intimidated, and have only their side to this story to tell. This could yet be a mere misunderstanding, for there are other dangers on the Outer Rim which may have harmed our fellow Jedi."

Dooku doubted the 'misunderstanding' part - Dias was hoping against hope.

"I am willing to disclose that I am uncomfortable with trying to 'negotiate' and 'talk' with these creatures; they are not like us. I find their violent culture hard to even consider respecting," Dooku admitted openly. 

"But respect diversities you must, Dooku," Yoda chimed in once again, motioning one small, clawed hand toward his tall ex-Padawan.

"I understand, Master Yoda," Dooku returned hastily, frustration rife in his tone, "But if people are dying merely when visiting these creatures on peaceful terms, imposing no threats -"

"Master Dooku," Syfo-Dias spoke up, raising his voice above that of Serenn's, "Show much more disrespect toward the Colicoids and the Council, and I think we'll reconsider your part in the mission."

Dooku's lip twitched, his gaze held intensely toward Dias. He took a deep breath, and gulped down his defiance, resolving to remain silent. 

Yoda sat up straight in his small chair, attracting Serenn's attention; he looked to his old Padawan calmly, his green eyes starkly contrasting to Dias' chill, blue ones, having a much more serene and soothing aura about them;  "Capable of this mission, Dooku is," he insisted gently, addressing the whole council, whilst keeping his eyes upon the lofty Jedi. 

Now that his Master had disrupted the tranquil aura of the Council chamber through some unknown, buried, but clearly unforgettable contention that he had with Dias, Jinn felt even more vulnerable; he took a gulp of air, feeling trapped within the glares of the twelve Jedi Masters that encircled him.

Yoda continued to hold Dooku's fiery gaze; he had not yet finished speaking, and somehow, the audience present knew it. They waited in silence for Yoda to continue. 

"Capable, he is," Yoda repeated, "But clear his mind and calm himself he must."

Dooku sighed gently - almost unnoticeably - his chest slightly rising and falling beneath his beige robes; he seemed to be having some sort of silent conversation through his eyes with Yoda, as still their gazes upon one-another had not been broken. Yoda was still, in many respects, Dooku's mentor, and tried to keep the wildness within Serenn tame; this 'wildness', this 'recklessness', though always there within Dooku's blood, did not emerge ferociously very often. It was in times such as this, when he was under pressure, that Serenn would let his ardour loose. And it was then that he would need some form of discipline to keep him in line. 

Dooku nodded silently to Yoda, acknowledging the Jedi Master's point, before dropping his line of sight to the floor, and then raising it back to Dias scrupulously. 

"You assume too much about the Colicoids, Master Dooku," Dias said delicately, his voice still tinged with agitation, "Which will in no way aid your mission." 

A brief, tense pause followed. Jinn looked up to his Master, staring into his eyes; Serenn had stunning eyes - the kind that could hold you mesmerised, or frighten you stupid. They were commanding, and intimidating, but could also be kind. At the present moment, they were stormy - black and deep - and Jinn did not wish to interfere with his Master when he was in such a frame of mind. 

"Yes, my Master," Serenn nodded brusquely toward Dias, acknowledging his statement somewhat grudgingly.

Jinn thought that that was the end of it, but suddenly, his Master spoke again, "Nevertheless, this mission presents danger. I ask that my Padawan plays no part in it."

Qui-Gon's face dropped in disbelief, his jaw hanging open unintentionally, and he looked to Dooku hard, his eyes wide with disappointment; Jinn longed to be part of a Jedi quest – he had been stuck on Coruscant for too long...

Knowing before he had even uttered the words the displeasure that his Padawan would feel, Dooku failed, or more likely refused, to look down upon Jinn's countenance; he knew that it would be in Qui-Gon's best interests to stay behind, where he would be safe. A planet where even Jedi were threatened with their lives was no place for a Padawan, in his honest opinion.

"He is still young," Dooku continued, voicing his concerns whilst trying to ignore Jinn's dispirited expression, "I don't wish to put him in such danger."

"Take your Padawan, you will, Dooku!" Yoda abruptly ordered him, to his surprise. Serenn's eyes darted to Yoda rapidly, and he stared at him, stunned.

Yoda did not falter beneath Dooku's harsh gaze, and continued, "Old enough is he, and protect him forever, you cannot." 

Serenn frowned, thinking deeply about that which Yoda had said. Jinn, hope returning to him, now looked up to his Master; he knew that he was ready to accompany him on a true mission now. He would not be a burden, and could take care of himself.

Dooku sighed once more, looking to Qui-Gon; he cared for the boy like a father does his son - perhaps too much, sometimes. He did not wish to place Jinn in such danger, but he also did not want to over-protect the boy. 

"Please, Master," Jinn pleaded. 

Yoda looked to Dooku hard, as did the entire audience within the Council chamber, including Dias.

Dooku nodded discreetly after a few moments of thought, "Okay," he reluctantly agreed. He turned back to the Council, "I will take my Padawan, then," he stated, placing his hand upon Jinn's shoulder, passing his stern gaze across the Jedi Masters sat in the range of his vision, "So, who else will be accompanying me and my apprentice? You mentioned another..."

"Indeed, Master Dooku, we did," Dias confirmed, "We were to send Jedi Knight Kylaba with you to Colla IV, but he is absent on businesses within the Corellia system. We are therefore unconfirmed as to which Jedi will be accompanying you to Colla."

"Therefore," Yoda continued on from Syfo, "Your judgement, we will trust, in finding an accomplice."

Dooku nodded subtly, by no means thrilled by this further burden on his back, "As you wish, my Masters." he half-heartedly rejoined. 

"Go, take some time to prepare yourselves," Dias ordered with a waft of his hand, "And see which Jedi Knights are available to partake upon this mission with you; choose well, Master Dooku. Return to us at dawn two days from now - then, we will further discuss this mission with you, your selected companion, and your Padawan."

"Yes, my Master," Dooku nodded once more, bowing to the Council. Jinn followed his Master's etiquette, bowing also.

"May the Force be with you," Yoda added as the two swiftly left the chamber. The Council watched them depart. Syfo-Dias exhaled loudly, calming himself, and glanced to Yoda. The little Jedi, however, did not look back. 

**To be continued…**


	2. The Troubles with Colla IV

**Author's Notes**: Wow! Two reviews! As far as SW stories go, that's good! Especially when it's a Dooku-Jinn story!

Tell me, does Dooku have a first name? I reckon I'm going to christen him until I find out what his name is – _if_ I find out! My friend Arlyss said I could use her name, so I think I will: Master Dooku is now called **Serenn**. What do you think? OK? I like it – and unless Lucas names the poor guy, that's how he'll stay. It's a pain calling him 'Dooku', 'Dooku', 'Dooku' _all_ the time… ^_^ Thanks for the name, Arlyss!

**WDCain**: You flatter me! I'm trying to write two fics at once, but this one is secondary to the other ATM. I'll try my best to keep it going… I don't want to leave it unfinished and rotting. I agree about Dooku being fascinating – I think he's a marvellous character, and I can't wait to see more of him in Ep.3. 

**BekaJWP:** Thanx! I love Count Dooku to bits, so naturally, I wanted to think about his earlier Jedi days. 

**Jedi**: Re: this chapter – my mistake is now corrected! ^_~

**NB: Again, edited… as you can see, Dooku wasn't christened 'Serenn' till now originally. 5-4-03**

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**A Test of Faith**

**Chapter 2**

Qui-Gon walked into the Jedi Archives, looking around the blue-illuminated shelves in awe; stacks of files reached to the ceiling and computer terminals lined the room centre. He stood by the wide archway, which was the entrance to the archives, and awaited his Master. 

It was only a few moments until Dooku came up behind him; the Jedi Master urged him forward with a slight nudge to his shoulder, and Qui-Gon then slowly began to walk ahead. He heard his Master's gentle yet powerful footsteps ringing out behind him; Dooku had been here to the Jedi Archives many a time, and whilst the Archive chambers were spectacular - as Qui-Gon's awe suggested – Dooku had been here on that many occasions that the novelty of its amazement had worn off. It was nothing special to him anymore.

They walked together - Master and Apprentice - down the central aisle of the room, taking steady, measured steps, with gigantic shelves reaching up high to either side of them. Several other Jedi were studying the files held within the Archives from the workstations central to the room, and glanced up from their work as the two newcomers brushed by; the atmosphere was peaceful - perfect for those who wished to study in serenity. 

Golden busts of Jedi who had renounced their Order lined either side of the central avenue; their deeply chiselled eyes looked predominantly down upon all whom past their gazes. Qui-Gon could not help but stare back at them with a deep frown, pondering how any Jedi could renounce their sacred Order; "Why do we honour those who betray us, Master?" he queried sourly, turning back to look up at his tutor; he had never thought to ask the question before.

Dooku did not turn to look at him - he continued to walk on, head held high, replying in his distinguished tone, "They do not 'betray' us, Qui-Gon, they merely recognise that the path placed before them is not the one they were destined to take; they realise that they do not fit into the life of the Jedi. You can therefore not expect them to lead a miserable existence by remaining part of the Order, now, can you, my apprentice?"

"No, Master," Jinn replied quietly. There was a brief silence between the two, before Jinn spoke again, "Why does it take them so long to realise that they're on the wrong path?"

Dooku paused, glancing down passing tributaries of the library, looking for the librarian, "Well, Qui-Gon, I guess people change..."

Qui-Gon nodded slowly, thinking about what his Master had said, until his train of thought was interrupted by a voice from behind; "Master Dooku! What brings you here?"

Dooku immediately halted, and made an elegant turn-about on his feet, to face the person behind him.

"Ah! Greetings, Miss Nu!" he smiled, making a somewhat gallant bow to the archive assistant librarian, "I was just searching for you!"

She smiled back, nodding at the Jedi Master. 

Nu was a Jedi herself, but unlike many, had worked partly in the Archives for some time. She had always been thoroughly interested in the information that the Archives held, and had often come to peruse many a file in her spare time. She was slowly learning from the current librarian all she needed to know before the day arrived when she would take over the role herself; she would most likely be here for the rest of her life thereafter. She had a dignified air about her, and was likely around Dooku's age, give or take a few years. Her hair was brown and held back in a bun, and she had keen eyes and a delightful smile; "How may I be of service to you, Master Jedi?" she continued.

"Well, my apprentice and I" - at this point, Dooku placed his hands upon Jinn's shoulders - "Have been assigned to Colla IV."

Jocasta Nu immediately lost her smile, well aware of the dangers of Colla IV, "I see..." she said with a slow nod, trying to remain as polite and serene as possible.

Dooku nodded in acknowledgement, "And I would appreciate it if young Jinn got himself acquainted with the planet and the Colicoids - could you set him off in the right direction?"

Nu nodded to him, "My pleasure, Master Dooku," she beamed, pleased to be of service to him. Dooku urged Jinn gently toward the librarian, and left him in her hands. 

Whilst she guided him to a computer terminal, Dooku went about his own businesses; taking a seat at another computer terminal, he plugged in several codes, and accessed the more exclusive files, accessible only by the higher ranked members of the Jedi. Finding the Colla IV information bank, he slowly began to go through the records:

"Source 32A: Jedi Master Thiosk and her apprentice were sent to Colla IV to negotiate terms of union with the Republic. They were recorded to have arrived, but the Colicoids denied this fact, and the two were not seen since," Dooku read discreetly; it was one of many accounts scrolling down the screen before him.

The Jedi Master frowned, and slowly sat back in his seat, rubbing his beard in thought; "That was a decade ago," he noted to himself. After brooding briefly over the first file, he scrolled down to another:

"Ssy J'uk, Neimoidian Trader, proposed a business deal with Colla IV's Droid fineries. The trader was invited to discuss terms of the proposal on the planet at the capital city of Drykos. He accepted the offer, and left for discussions on the planet," Serenn narrated inconspicuously again to himself; he skipped several lines of the report, until he came to the conclusion, "Never seen again…"

His brow furrowed a little deeper; the Colicoids were notorious for their Xenophobia, never trusting those of a different species to them. If negotiations ever got as far as taking place where this 'Ssy J'uk' was concerned, then, had anything gone the way the Colicoids did not appreciate, this Neimoidian would have been slaughtered.

"Must have been a brave Neimoidian," Dooku remarked to himself; Neimoidians were cowardly creatures – to hear of one avidly making a move toward another species, especially the Colicoids, was something new. But if there was a chance of profit at the end, then what could one expect?

Dooku scrolled a little down the screen again; "The Colicoids denied any knowledge of their 'visitor', claiming not to even be familiar with his name, or the deal that had apparently been proposed," he mumbled. He paused again before noting, "And that was fifteen years ago…"

This wasn't really helping his research; it just told him what he already knew. He flashed through several more reports, regarding problems with the planet, the light from the monitor screen illuminating his chiselled features with a haunting blue glow.

He stopped pretty much at random on one final report; "Kyle Phylan, Jedi Knight, was sent with several representatives of the Republic to investigate unprovoked assaults on freighters in the trade routes surpassing the Colla system. The group was confirmed as to reaching the Colla vicinity, although the sheer distance between Colla and the capital planet rendered communication ineffective. With contact lost, the convoy was _never seen again._"

Dooku emphasised his last words with something of exasperation – this was getting a bit predictable and tiresome; how could the Council deny that there was no danger in this mission? These records said it all.

Okay, there was no hard evidence for or against the Colicoid mysteries, but Dooku was sure that pure common sense said it all. Obviously, there were several thick-skinned members who sat on the Jedi Council who thought differently.

"That's the last report, eight years ago," Dooku stated solemnly, sensing Jocasta Nu sit beside him at the next terminal, "Until we lost two other Jedi recently," he finished, turning to look at her.

Nu had left Jinn with plenty to look at, and had come to see how the Master was doing now. She smiled faintly at him as his eyes lay upon her; "Please tell me they'll reconsider posting you there, Serenn," she said quietly to him, "I know that I have no right to pry into the business of the Council –"

"You have every right," he swiftly interrupted her, "Besides the fact that you help run our Archives, you are a Jedi, too."

She past over his comment as she continued, "But Colla IV… well, as you can see, it has no pristine reputation."

Dooku nodded knowingly, silent.

"I have faith in your skills, Serenn," Jocasta divulged to him discreetly, looking him hard in the eyes, "But skill isn't always enough."

He smiled gently at her concern, "I agree with you, my friend," he said quietly, "But even I cannot disobey a direct order from the Jedi Council; you seem to feel, alike myself, that this planet is nothing but trouble. Personally, I think we're better off leaving them alone – the more we pry, the more trouble we seem to get into."

He closed the files on the archive terminal, rising from his seat and beginning to pace slowly down the halls of the library as Jocasta walked by his side; "I realise that, if more Jedi have gone missing, then something must be done, but is sending yet _more_ Jedi out to these creatures the way? Not in my opinion," he went on, voicing his concerns unwaveringly, "The Jedi Council try to deny the true hostility of these so-called 'civilised' beetles, even after all that has happened, and they still believe that they can get the Colla systems to join the democracy of the Republic. Their efforts are in vain."

He stopped before a golden bust of the first Jedi of the Lost Nineteen to have left the Order, a frightening-looking fellow, whose name he failed to recall. Jocasta looked at the bust, then back to Dooku; his countenance was deeply set as he thought gravely about the matter of this mission. He slowly turned back to look upon the smaller, female Jedi by his side, "It may take my death on this world to finally sway the Council over their opinions of the Colla system; if I am consumed, then surely they will finally realise the deadliness of the Colicoids," he said quietly, his deep tone hush.

"I should hope you would not be consumed at all," Nu retorted sombrely to him.

He didn't reply – he just stared at her for a moment.

"And, speaking of the matter," he went on after a brief pause, taking up his slow walk again, brushing past a group of infantile Padawans, "I need to find another Jedi to accompany me and young Jinn to Colla; it is a choice I wish not to hold responsibility over, not when the mission poses such risk."

"I do not envy such a choice, Master Dooku," Jocasta admitted herself, "I can only advise that you choose someone whom you trust, who will be willing to accompany you and your apprentice into such danger…"

Serenn listened to her words carefully, staring blankly at the floor as it past beneath his feet. 

A Xeto Padawan suddenly appeared from out of an aisle, walking elegantly up to Jocasta Nu. It bowed to her, its four arms hanging loosely by its side, "Jedi Master Nu," she squeaked timidly, "Could I have some help, please?"

Nu smiled at the young Padawan, "Of course," she said. She looked briefly back to the esteemed Jedi Master by her side, "May the Force be with you, Master Dooku," she said discreetly, giving him a nod of farewell.

"Take care, my dear," he added after her softly, watching her attend to the small Padawan, and disappear down an aisle out of his sight.

***            *           *          ***

Night came upon Coruscant. Serenn was alone in his chamber, one of many within the Jedi dorms. He sat cross-legged upon a firm, raised seat, like a circular cushion, and was meditating – but not in the expected fashion; he was restlessly thoughtful, unable to get the mission off of his mind.

His chamber was dark about him – lights were of little use for meditation. His long, black hair hung loosely about his neck, and his eyes were unfocused, lost in thought. Master Yoda had always taught him to meditate when he was tense or angry – he had told him that it helped to tame the fire within. And it worked, as long as Dooku put his mind to it.

Jinn was now asleep, having been worn out by the day's studying and training exercises; Dooku knew how excited his Padawan was at the concept of going on a mission – it was such a pity that his first mission had potential to be his last.

But Serenn wasn't just meditating and thinking; he was waiting… waiting for the arrival of a friend, one who he had asked to come with him. Though he himself was reluctant to participate in this mission, he was even more reluctant to be held responsible for two others on this pointless quest. The Colicoids were single-minded barbarians, as far as Dooku was concerned – but to state such an opinion openly could lead to a temporary suspension from the Order. The Jedi failed to face the truth – they couldn't handle everything. Their power was not so great; in fact, Dooku was beginning to feel that slowly the power of the Jedi in the Republic was slipping.

At least if this mission turned out disastrous, then the Jedi would have to face reality over the situation with Colla. If he, Master Dooku, one of the Jedi's highest ranking and most powerful members, was apprehended on Colla, and consumed without a trace, then there would be no question of the iniquitous deeds of the Colicoids then. At least Serenn hoped so. And he prayed that it didn't come to such a horrific ending.

It seemed highly unlikely that he and his two companions would discover the fates of the two Jedi lost on the most recent mission to Colla. As far as he was concerned, getting there, and then back to Coruscant again alive would be a triumph in its own right. And if the Jedi were hoping that he could sway the Colicoids to join the Republic, then he felt that the Council were overconfident in both his ability and their influence; it wasn't as though he wouldn't appreciate the Colla system uniting with the Republic, he just knew that they wouldn't. Besides, the Jedi had enough planets in the Republic causing concern as it was – adding Colla to the list would just encourage more problems, especially with their numbers becoming increasingly limited, and their ability to contain such quandaries strained.

Suddenly, his train of thought was broken as the doors to his apartment slid open; with his back faced to the entrance, he was unable to see the incoming figure, but made no effort to turn and face them, anyway. He listened carefully as the doors hissed back to a close, and gentle footsteps made their way toward him. They stopped infront of him, and the figure took a seat on the floor; "Master Dooku," she greeted him sincerely, looking up to the Jedi through the hazy darkness.

Dooku looked back into his visitor's eyes – it was Allyaah. He stared at her for some time, unmoved by her welcoming smile, his solemnity too deep; he straightened his back, and replied, "Master Jiao," nodding to her briefly.

There was an awkward pause. The Jedi stared at one another.

"So," Dooku said quietly, breaking the silence, "Have you decided?" His mood was understandably solemn due to the implications of the mission. Jiao noted his seriousness, and glanced down at the carpet for a second, whilst Serenn waited, holding his firm gaze upon her. After a moment's pause, Allyaah lifted her head, and looked the Jedi Master straight in the eyes, "I'll come with you," she nodded almost silently, a grim, knowing smile upon her visage.

Dooku slowly nodded, his reaction bland.

Allyaah read his thoughts, his mind open to her; he felt no need to hide his feelings; "You wish not to participate at all?" she asked discreetly.

Dooku shook his head rigidly and leant his cranium upon his hand, fixing his vision on a rivet in the carpet; he was purposely trying to distract himself; "No," he mouthed in response, his voice hardly emerging from his throat, "No one should participate."

Jiao sighed, not whole-heartedly into the prospects of the assignment herself.

"This 'mission' will prove fruitless," Serenn went on, frowning deeply and gesturing about with a flick of his hand out to his left, "Master Yoda knows this, yet the remainder of the Council have pushed forward for this undertaking regardless."

Allyaah considered his opinion, pausing for a moment's thought; she nodded faintly, "Yes, but and order is an order. They haven't sent us on this mission for the fun of it. We have a job to do."

"I know," he replied softly, acknowledging her response.

Another pause.

Jiao broke this next silence, "So, when do we begin?" she asked.

Serenn studied Allyaah's eyes for a moment, before answering, "Dawn, the day after tomorrow, we meet at the Jedi Council. We'll go on from there."

Jiao nodded, and made an attempt to lighten the aura of the situation, "Me, you and Qui-Gon, 'eh? It should be an experience!" she smiled.

Dooku tried a faint smirk in response, but failed miserably, "It will be an experience," he sternly stated, "If we get back alive."

The Jedi Master got suddenly restless, and rose up from his seat, walking over to the window of his room, glaring out through the blinds at the passing traffic of Coruscant. Allyaah cautiously rose to her feet and followed him, standing a little behind him; "We will," she stated positively.

Serenn was not so sure, but he wasn't so arrogant as to scoff at his friend's comments. He monitored a particularly large freighter as it hovered past the temple, overshadowing the multitude of traffic about it in the lanes. 

Jiao walked right up to his side, looking out of the window simultaneously, knowing that Dooku was just as uninterested in the passing traffic as she was – he just wanted to occupy himself whilst he felt so frustrated; "You're concerned for Qui-Gon?" she asked him gently, looking up to him; she sensed a certain unease in his poise.

He sighed, looking down, "Yes…" he admitted. He began to fiddle with his belt unknowingly, drifting away with his thoughts, his mind saturated with disquiet and irritation; if he wasn't such a reckless Jedi on occasions, with such controversial points of view, then he could have been up on the Council himself. He wasn't personally bothered about being offered a seat upon the Jedi Council, but at least if he had that privilege, he could voice his concerns more effectively over matters such as this. Though whether just _his_ voice could prevail over all of the others in the council was unlikely. 

This mission was just _so_ wrong…

"I worry for you, too," Dooku confessed quietly to his friend in a low, hoarse tone. He turned to face her, "I don't want you or Qui-Gon to get hurt. It was hard enough asking you to take part in this anyway, never mind the fact that you may have to face the further prospects of it all."

Allyaah was suddenly indignant, "You should not 'worry' at all, Serenn!" she said resolutely, "Worrying is fearing – and Jedi know no fear!"

"I can't help it if I care, Allyaah!" he snapped back abruptly.

Jiao took in a sharp breath, and turned about, retreating into the dark chamber. She felt his eyes follow her; he had such a potent gaze, one so strong you could feel it when it trailed you. And he had a potent voice to match.

"We'll all be _fine,_" she obstinately insisted, folding her arms tightly over her chest and looking blankly into a dark corner of the chamber.

There was a long moment's pause between them, and eventually, Allyaah decided to turn back to face him. She looked to him warily, and he continued to stare back, his imposing physique silhouetted by the window; "Yes," he finally and quietly said, "We'll all be fine."

Jiao nodded uncertainly, undecided about the way he had responded. She shook off her hesitancy – this mission was already getting to them, and they hadn't even left the temple!

"Get some sleep, Master Dooku," she said, "And I'll see you in a couple of days."

With that she bowed low to him in respect, and turned to go, leaving the Jedi Master alone with his brooding thoughts. Serenn watched her go, following her until the doors of his chamber closed behind her.

_'Worrying is Fearing'_

He returned his gaze to the traffic beyond his room's window, Allyaah's words reverberating about his head:

But compassion, which a Jedi should feel, is caring – and if you care about someone, you also worry. But if worrying is fearing, and a Jedi cannot know fear, then what was a Jedi meant to feel?

He slowly exhaled, his thoughts not unravelling the way he would appreciate. 

And fear? Well, fear was the path to the Dark side…

**To be continued…**


	3. The Jedi Master's Concern

**Author's Notes**: I have **met** Christopher Lee! Only briefly, but I got his autograph, and spoke as best as I could (I was nervous as Hell!), but it still counts! He's _so_ great! Was in a queue of about five hundred people to see him – and was _near-er the front! ^_^ LOL_

OK, so this chapter is so-so, but should be satisfactory. Sorry for the delay, but besides going to meet Christopher Lee, I have actually been very busy – broke up for the X-mas hols today, though, which is great! Merry Sithmas everyone!

**WDCain:** Hmm… great insight into the future, you have… ^_~ LOL. Thanks – I'm glad you enjoy my fics! Indeed, Dooku is from an aristocratic family, but that would have had little effect on his character for he would have been taken in by the Jedi corps when young. His strong will is mainly a part of his character. And you're right, he's no snob, he's just confident in his own view on this situation.

**Sinister Papaya Fondue:** '_Mirozan'_… nice! I guess Serenn kinda does contradict his character – it's quite a serene name, isn't it?

**Jedi:** I made the change – I _do_ proof read my own fics, but an author often misses their own mistakes! Glad you're enjoying the fic!

**T/F Alpha:** Cheers! I think Dooku is a marvellous character, and I love him! He deserves more attention than he gets!

**NB: Edited 5-4-03 - Jurious**

**---------------------------------------------------------------------**

**A Test of Faith**

**Chapter 3**

The fated dawn arrived. 

The sun slowly began to peep above the horizon, claiming the tall towers of the Jedi Temple with its glorious, golden rays. Dooku and Jinn walked side-by-side, on their way to the Jedi Council chamber at the peak of the temple. Master and Apprentice said nothing to one another: Serenn stared solemnly forward, his head held high, his spirits energised, but not ecstatic, whilst Jinn walked as nobly as he could, though a combination of excitement and wariness toward his master's austerity kicked in, and made him slightly nervous.

Qui-Gon looked out of the large windows as he past them, watching the traffic zoom by, the sunlight glittering off of their metallic exteriors. He had trained hard yesterday, with his Master having insisted upon teaching him some particularly sharp defensive moves. He knew his Master was concerned about their safety upon this planet - if it was anything as bad as his research in the archives had suggested from the other day, then they weren't in for an easy ride.

The two ascended a flight of steps, and took a right corner about a large, metallic pillar, before continuing on down a hallway. A couple of other Jedi past them, one groaning from an obvious lightsabre wound down his arm. Jinn eyed the Jedi carefully - it was an unfortunate Ithorian Padawan; he'd seemingly been too confident with his sabre for his own good in his last exercise.

"Never run before you can walk," Dooku suddenly said as they continued on their way. 

Jinn was startled a little by his Master's voice, and abruptly turned back to look at him. It appeared, however, as though his Master hadn't addressed him at all, for Dooku still held his head high, and continued to stare ahead - he hadn't even turned to look at him! As was the assertive nature of Master Dooku...

Qui-Gon silently nodded in response – he had been rebuked before for his overconfidence. It wasn't often Jedi did hurt themselves in sabre practises, but it did just prove how overconfidence could be an undoing.

They entered into a lift, and rose up the shaft to the higher levels of the Jedi tower; as the doors of the lift opened at the top, Jinn jumped suddenly – Allyaah was stood there waiting for them!

"What time do you call this, Master Dooku?" Jiao asked him whimsically, folding her arms.

Jinn looked up to his Master, and saw the first vague smile rise upon his face for the past 24 hours. He gave Jiao a little nod of greeting, "Master Jiao," he smiled, "I call this the _right_ time."

Jinn smirked, looking from his Master to the other Jedi. 

She shook her head back at him in a kind dismissal, "You can talk your way out of anything," she sighed, "Well, are we ready?"

"I am!" Jinn said certainly, the majority of him still raring to go.

Dooku frowned a little toward him, "Qui-Gon," he groaned with a slight warning in his tone.

"Master, I know about all the dangers, but I _am_ ready to get off this planet!" he replied honestly.

"Agreed," Dooku nodded swiftly, "But you're not ready to be thrown into the face of certain death."

"Don't scare him, Serenn," Allyaah warned him discreetly "We've got to at least go in positive. There is still chance that things are a big misunderstanding."

"A hope amongst hopes," Dooku rejoined, one eyebrow rising in gesture.

Allyaah decided not to reply, and turned about, accompanying the two as they walked toward the Jedi Council chambers; "So, Qui-Gon," she said, "I heard your master had you researching the Colicoids the other day?"

Jinn nodded, "Yes, he did Master Jiao."

"Would you like to tell me about them?" she asked him.

Dooku remained quiet, watching how Jinn reacted to his fellow Jedi; after being under his tutelage - a tall, dark and deep-voiced male - it was possibly a nice change to be spoken to by a female Jedi, who had a slightly milder way of dealing with Padawans.

"Well," Jinn began, "The Colicoids are beetles, or Coleoptera. They are, as a standard, 2 metres tall, and communicate through use of stridulation - sounds - though they communicate through pheromones as well when still young. They travel about by rolling in general - they curl up into a ball-like shape, and roll along the ground at speeds of up to 60 miles an hour. They can rapidly unfurl from this position, and leap into attack mode, standing upon their three, sturdy legs and using their sharp-edged forearm shells for weapons.

"The Colicoids are strange amongst the sentient beings of the known universe for the simple fact that they are coleopteran - most sentient beings are mammals or amphibious. They are also, however, amongst the most deadly intelligent creatures in the galaxies, armed with a highly potent venom, which is inserted into their victim's flesh through the sharp tips of their forearm shields. Once the venom enters the bloodstream, it can be a matter of hours, or even minutes, depending upon the strength of the victim's immune system, before the victim dies. Symptoms of Colicoid poisoning include cramps, sweating and nausea, and eventually paralysis and death. 

"Should the Colicoids join the Republic, however, this kind of deadly weapon has been asked to be 'removed' from them - amputated - so no longer a threat. It is not something considered an asset in a 'civilised' society, though we should respect the diversity of cultures, and consider how much these natural weapons mean to them. They are known for their wishes to remain isolationist, and, alike the Geonosis system, their society is divided by class; it is ruled by the Queen, and continues down through drones to workers."

"My goodness, Qui-Gon," Jiao smiled at him, "Did your Master make you memorise all that, too?"

"Knowledge is power," Jinn smiled, "It could save my life."

Dooku nodded to him, "True, my boy," he said, "Though knowledge isn't wisdom."

Jinn frowned, looking up to his lofty Master unsurely, "I don't understand..." he admitted.

Jiao shook her head, the statement infamous of Serenn, "He just means, Qui-Gon, that just because you know about something doesn't mean you are clever; to have knowledge is one thing, but to know how to use it to the greatest affect is the truest test of wisdom. You see?"

"I think so," Jinn dithered.

Allyaah smiled at him, "You'll learn, Qui-Gon," she said kindly, patting him on the shoulder, then looking up to Dooku with a gentle smirk. He looked back at her for a moment before he gave her a brief smile of acknowledgement in return.

They continued on until they reached the Jedi Council chamber, and entered solemnly, filing along before the Council once again. They stood in a row, Dooku to the far right, Qui-Gon centre, and Allyaah at the row's end.

There was a moment of silence – no greeting bar the barely distinguishable nods of the three entering Jedi; they were at the mercy of their peers now.

Syfo-Dias shifted in his seat, leaning toward the trio of Jedi, "Master Dooku," he said, addressing Serenn solely and immediately, "Your objective is simple: discover the fate of the late Jedi ambassadors. And remember, _subtlety_ is the key – do not in anyway offend the Colicoids, or tread on dangerous ground."

Jinn felt a certain bitterness in Dias' tone again, picking up on its cold edge that he'd registered before, when the Council member had addressed his Master; he was even more confident that his Master and Syfo-Dias had a history now, and not a pleasant one. Glancing up to his mentor, he noticed Dooku's face go a little taut as he, in turn, registered the delicate acrimony of Dias' words, feeling almost as though the other was teasing him.

"You know, my friend, that your subordinates will suffer for your idiocy if you make a critical error this time," Syfo added sharply, slowly sitting back in his seat.

Allyaah frowned at Dias, looking briefly to Serenn then back to the Jedi Council members before her; she felt that something was unquestionably amiss, though, knowing that Serenn was often a loner, and preferred that others did not interfere with his life or affairs, knew better than to get involved.

"I understand," Dooku rejoined harshly.

Yoda felt the tension rise between the two yet again, and commanded all presences in the room with his simple, yet reverent tone; "A great responsibility you bear, Master Dooku," he said, deftly putting Dias back in his place, "But confident I am in your ability to, this mission, successfully complete. Find the answers, you will."

Syfo stared at the diminutive Jedi Master unsurely, convinced that Yoda had a certain confidence in Dooku that many others did not share; the tall human male had begun life as his fiery teenage Padawan, though, and it was almost expected.

Yoda wasn't as short-sighted as Syfo-Dias often deemed, however; he knew that Dooku had tremendous potential, but time and again, his ex-Padawan failed to use it properly; his heart often ruled his head, and got him into difficulty.

"Colla IV is not a large planet," Master Odyn announced from behind, "You will be sent to the Colla IV capital of Drykos, and you will begin your investigation from there."

Dooku's frown marginally intensified, but he remained silent. Nevertheless, his saturnine face said it all – he was troubled, and Yoda stared with a certain amount of concern at his old Padawan. Once Serenn realised that his old master's eyes were on him, he raised his line of sight to Yoda, returning the stare.

"Something else to say, have you, Master Dooku?" Yoda queried.

Allyaah looked across to Serenn again, reading his emotive eyes like a book; she looked between him and Yoda slowly, seeing a trace of the old master-apprentice bond still looming. Many masters and Padawans maintained their bonds long after training was complete, though Dooku had never struck her as being one of that nature.

Dooku sighed inaudibly, staring at one of the patterns on the floor for a second, before returning his glance to the Council, "If I may, my masters," he began hoarsely, "I wish to again emphasise that I feel that negotiation – or rather attempted negotiation – with the Colicoids is not the answer to this problem. They have consistently given us the message over the years, as death after death has resulted from our interference, that we are not welcome there. I don't see what progression we are making with this matter if we constantly utilise the same tactic! They long ago closed their ears to us."

The Jedi Council looked to one another, Dooku's open opinion typically controversial. Naturally, it was Dias that retorted first; "Master Dooku, you have already stated this 'opinion' of yours to the Council – we have overruled your close-minded claims and believe in a little something called _perseverance_. This matter must be dealt with now, before it is too late!"

Serenn glared unwaveringly at Dias, and quietly stated, "It already is too late."

Syfo glowered at him in return, sitting back in his chair once again – he found Dooku's defiance and obstinacy exasperating.

Jinn shifted his weight from one leg to the other, beginning to feel vulnerable – he and Allyaah hadn't even been acknowledged yet by the Council, but he guessed that was just the way they operated; his master was the one in charge.

"Master Dooku," Limaya, the Zabrak, said calmly, "You were selected for this mission on account of your skills with words and with negotiation. We understand your concerns, but ask you now to do as the Council bids – you are a Jedi, and as a Jedi you act as part of a team. None of us works alone. Be mindful of how you treat the Colicoids, and remember, as Master Syfo-Dias has rightly pointed out, subtlety is the key. I am as confident as Master Yoda that you will be successful in your mission."

Dooku nodded, aware of the true futility of his resistance; he was notorious for his oozing charisma, and persuasive banter, but the Colicoids didn't even appreciate talk – and who knows if charisma had even been discovered yet on their world! Placing him against the Colicoids was like asking someone to put out a fire by throwing wood on it.

"You have your Padawan with you, and have also judiciously selected Master Allyaah for aid. Together, I'm confident that you will do well," Dias added half-heartedly, fed up with dealing with his rival.

"Yes, my master," Serenn nodded deprecatingly.

"Allow not your emotions to rule you," Yoda reminded all three cryptically, pointing to each one stood before him, as though he was aware of some future threat befitting them all, "Clear your minds must be."

The three looked to one another, caught off guard by the request, then all in turn acknowledged Master Yoda's advice with gentle nods, Jinn the most bewildered of the three.

Yoda nodded slowly in return; "Then your departure take… and May the Force be with you."

**To be continued…**


	4. A Hidden Rivalry

**Author's Notes**: I decided to expand upon Syfo-Dias a bit, and I've given him a name too. I tried to think of a name, and thought of a little chain:

_Dooku **- **Christopher Lee **- **Vincent Price **- **Vance_

So I called him 'Vance', similar to 'Vincent', the name of the late actor who had been one of Christopher Lee's old acting friends.

**---------------------------------------------------------------------**

**A Test of Faith**

**Chapter 4**

It was a rapid turn of events. No sooner had the three left the chamber, then they'd had to prepare to leave, and were now readying their craft for travel to Colla IV.

Dooku stood on the platform of one of the Jedi Temple's largest docking bays, watching as a large Republic cruiser was moved toward the bay doors, ready for the usage of him and his comrades. Jinn was talking to one of the Jedi who worked often in the docking bay - some Jedi proved mechanically minded in their skills, so occasionally gave their time to do jobs as such. Jinn loved talking to others, and hearing about the assorted leases of Jedi life.

Jiao entered the bay, and walked up behind Serenn, a small bag of clothes and necessities hung over her back ready for the expedition; Jedi owned little, so travel at least never proved too hectic as far as selecting outfits was concerned.

Dooku sensed her coming, and turned about, monitoring her closely as she approached him.

Allyaah smiled toward him, and placed her bag down by her feet as she reached him; "Master Dooku," she nodded in a typical Jedi welcome manner. He merely nodded silently in return, before turning back to watch the cruiser once again. 

Jiao caught the edge to his mood already from that dismissive gesture; "Is something wrong?" she asked him.

He looked down toward his feet, replying, "Yes... but there's nothing you can do to help."

Allyaah was sceptical, "So sure, are you?" she asked, purposely mimicking Yoda's sentence constructions to get Serenn's full attention. 

Serenn turned to her swiftly, eyeballing her hard; Allyaah could tell from his expression that he had taken slight offence at her impersonation; "**Yes, I ****am sure," he growled, the whites of his pupils seeming to become livid in his slender wrath. He turned abruptly away from her again.**

Allyaah rolled her eyes, "You're not helping yourself by being a loner all the time," she said firmly, picking up her bag of things, and walking over toward Qui-Gon. Dooku cocked his head up a little, his eyebrows rising once she had spoken as he briefly considered her words.

Jinn noticed Master Jiao approaching him, and he gestured a farewell to the mechanic Jedi he'd been conversing with, before bounding over to meet her; "Greetings, my master!" he said politely as he skidded short of her to a stop, "Not long now! I can't _believe_ how quickly things are happening!"

"I know," she smiled, finding Jinn's youthful excitement uplifting; it really hit her then that it might be about time that she took on her own Padawan, and had the benefit of a companion as well as a student during her Jedi life. Jinn seemed to be a bit of a handful, but she was enjoying seeing him often – it made her happy to watch another Jedi grow up, respecting the tutelage of their peers. And after having hard days where one had to deal with 'unpredictable' Jedi Knights and Masters (like Dooku), the prospects of having a Padawan to counter balance that seemed even more appealing.

Allyaah turned briefly back to look at Dooku – he was still stood staring in the far direction, a lone, tall and foreboding figure in the distance. 

Jinn recognised Jiao's brief glance toward Dooku; "My Master seems even more unhappy now then he was earlier," he said conservatively.

Jiao turned swiftly back to him, recognising that Jinn had a keen skill of observation and insight; he knew his master well. "I know," she said.

Jinn paused for a second, considering whether to voice his next opinion. He licked his lip as he thought about it, then decided to go ahead, and said, "I think it's to do with Master Syfo-Dias, don't you? He's always… '_taunting'_ my Master… though I'm at a loss as to _why_…"

Allyaah was surprised at Qui-Gon having made that point, but she nodded in agreement slowly; "I can't say I disagree with you, Qui-Gon," she replied honestly, "But I can't think that Master Syfo-Dias would purposely taunt Ser-… I mean, Master Dooku. I don't see why he should be allowed to be so _petty_…"

"He does it _real_ discreetly, that's why," Jinn replied decisively.

Jiao remained silent, looking to her side in contemplation – Jinn indeed was adeptly perceptive.

"I want to ask my master about it… about this seeming 'rivalry'…" Jinn admitted, stepping closer to Allyaah, and staring toward Dooku cautiously, "But I daren't… I'll ask him about most things on my mind, but when I know something upsets him like this, I avoid it…"

"He's a fully grown man, Qui-Gon," Allyaah reminded him, "He shouldn't have to hide things like a temperamental child…"

"We can't see it from his perspective, though," Jinn somewhat rebuked Jiao, sounding like a master talking to his Padawan. Allyaah couldn't help but smile faintly at his manner, but kept her smirk hidden from him; he'd obviously learned from the master.

"Many truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view," he added enigmatically.

"Good point," she said, giving him some credit for his well learned Jedi lore, "But do you understand it?"

Jinn glanced to Jiao briefly, then looked back to his master; he shrugged lightly, "I guess not…" he admitted, smirking awkwardly, "But it sounds good, doesn't it?"

Allyaah laughed gently – she hoped that she'd be able to find a Padawan as entertaining as young Master Jinn here; "Well, just make sure that you get your master to explain it to you," she told him, patting his shoulder briefly, before beginning to briskly walk toward the Republic cruiser that they would be travelling in.

Jinn watched her go, maintaining his wry smirk.

*            *           *          *

Syfo-Dias entered Yoda's meditation chamber slowly. The rays of light that fell hazily through the window blinds ran across his features and gave him a vaguely stripy appearance. 

Master Yoda was sat cross-legged upon his meditation seat – a firm round cushion, alike many that Jedi had in their chambers across the Temple. The little green Jedi's eyes were shut, and he seemed at peace, one with the Force.

Syfo-Dias walked toward the diminutive Jedi, and sat upon an identical seat opposite Master Yoda, smoothly lowering down onto it in a typical cross-legged posture. He watched Yoda for several seconds, waiting for his presence to be acknowledged. 

After a moment's pause, Yoda's eyes opened, and he turned to look upon his fellow Jedi Council member, "Master Syfo-Dias," he nodded in greeting. His tone of voice, however, was low, and that was not a good sign as far as Yoda went.

Dias nodded in return, "Master Yoda," he said sombrely.

"Something to say, have you?" Yoda asked him, keeping his unyielding eyes fixed upon him.

Syfo-Dias slowly nodded for a second time, "I do indeed, my master."

In spite of this, Yoda turned his head away again, and closed his eyes once more, "About Master Dooku?" he inquired knowingly.

Syfo-Dias hesitated, not expecting that response. He faltered before saying warily, "_Yes_… my master…"

Yoda sighed gruffly, thinking as much, "Many issues you have with him…" he stated, "And he with you…"

Syfo just watched Yoda attentively, his eyes cold and stern.

Yoda sighed again, a long silence passing. Then, after the pause, his eyelids lifted yet again, and he finally turned back to the other Jedi; "Deem him unfit for this mission, do you?" Yoda queried.

"I have done so since the _start_…" Dias replied steadily, "You _know_ this, master…"

"But the Council stands against you… one voice in defiance against eleven. Unconfident in this decision, are you?"

"No," he retorted, "I know Master Dooku is a… a '_skilled'_ Jedi, but… he's _not_ right for this mission. He doesn't even _believe_ in it himself…"

"The mission I myself do not agree with, Master Syfo-Dias" Yoda went on astutely, "But the council stood against me in my verdict. You stood against me then. The Council and I stand against you in Master Dooku's department. Content we both must be when the judgement of the majority of the Council opposes our own…"

"But Dooku doesn't _want_ to participate in this mission!" Dias went on resolutely, "How can one disillusioned by the mere _prospect_ of his mission complete it effectively?"

"_Master_ Dooku may not wish to participate," Yoda began in response, "But a _well trained_ and _sagacious_ Jedi is he. His utmost effort will he put into it, whether he deems it correct or not…"

Syfo-Dias sighed, his mistrust of Dooku contradicted by Yoda's confidence in his former Padawan.

"Personal issues you have with Master Dooku, and disappointed I am that you have merged these issues with your judgements in the Council," Yoda reprimanded Syfo-Dias again, "And sort these you must when your mind is _cleared, _Vance…"

The little Jedi turned from him in an act of finality, returning into his contemplative state. Syfo-Dias felt his lip twitch in a faint irritation, especially at being chided via use of his name. To be called upon personally felt like being a Padawan once again, not a Jedi Council member. He exhaled slowly, calming himself, before getting back to his feet, and leaving Yoda to his thoughts.

The doors hissed shut behind him as he left. Yoda turned to the doors once Dias had left, staring at the space for a moment; much to learn he still had…

**To be continued…**


	5. Fear and Failure

A Test of Faith

Chapter 5

'_Serenn…'_

"Huh?"

'_Serenn…'_

"Mom…? Is that you?"

'_Serenn…'_

"Mother?"

'_Serenn…'_

"**_Mom?!"_**

'_Serenn…'_

"Serenn?"

"Don't go…"

'_Serenn…'_

"Serenn! Are you OK?"

'_Serenn…'_

"_What? What do you want from me?"_

"Serenn, _wake up!"_

"_Ow…"_

Serenn's eyes snapped open as he felt a sharp slap against his cheek. He blinked hard, and looked up – Allyaah's face was looming above him, her hair dangling over him; "By the Force, I thought you'd _never wake up…" she sighed, smiling half-heartedly._

Serenn frowned, and rapidly sat up; he'd just gone to lie down on his bunk, within the cruiser, for a bit, but had obviously lapsed into sleep. He shook his head, knocking his black locks of hair back into place; "Was I talking in my sleep?" he asked.

"Was you ever…" Allyaah replied teasingly, giving him a brief rub on the shoulder, "Are you alright?"

He sighed, swinging his legs over the side of the bunk, and placing his head into his hands, "No, not really…" he replied, "I feel sick…"

"That's just your body adjusting to space travel. It affects some people more than others…" she stated surely, "It's the goings on _inside your head that I'm concerned about…"_

Dooku exhaled loudly, and raised his head a little, staring blandly to the opposite bunk in his room. The three Jedi were aboard the Republic cruiser, and on their way to Colla IV on the Outer Rim. They had no crew, just each other - and that, as far as Dooku was concerned, was adequate; it was one thing having to bear the responsibility of having fellow Jedi accompany you to Colla IV, one of the most treacherous planets for visiting on record, but to also have the responsibilities of a crew to hold in mind was just a little too much...

"Serenn…" Allyaah said with a slight warning, realising that he wasn't planning on responding to her any time soon,  "Open up…"

He didn't say anything for a moment, "How far are we to Colla?" he asked.

"We've got several hours yet, but _don't change the subject," Allyaah retorted, "You were calling your mother, Serenn... why?"_

He made a slow reaction, his eyebrows rising unsurely, "I don't know..." he said hoarsely, "It's just something that plagues me when I'm... '_stressed'_... I guess..."

This intrigued Allyaah - Jedi were taken in purposely when young so that they would form no emotional attachments to their family and friends, and would know no fear or anger. How could Serenn be calling his mother if had never had any knowledge of being with her...?

"But..." she stuttered in perplexity, "You never _knew_ your mother... _no one_ in the Order has known their parents..."

"It doesn't mean that I can't _remember her..." he replied sternly._

Allyaah frowned, "I don't understand..." she admitted.

"Don't try to..." he scorned, getting to his feet, and walking out of the room.

Jiao sighed - she wasn't sure _which was the Padawan when it came to him and Jinn._

*            *           *          *

Dooku stormed to the front of the Cruiser. He entered the cockpit, and looked out of the front viewpoint; the stars were a blur as they charged through hyperspace - but it was still a long way to Colla... the journey would take some time.

He sat down into the co-pilot's seat, exhaling slowly, and staring into nothingness; he thought about his dream, the one he'd just had; the one he'd had many times before.

~~

"_Serenn!"_

His mother wails as a man pulls him into his arms, clutching him about the waist.

"_Mom!"_

He struggles, seeing his mother before him, unable to reach her.

"Please, don't... **don't take him from me..."**

A man holds her back, trying to comfort her.

"_Mom!!"_

He cries out loud, trying to touch her for one last time.

"Please don't!" 

The man holding her looks at him regretfully and with hurt, but tries to remain strong. 

"_Serenn!" she cries one last time._

And then his mother fades, crumpling into his father's arms, helplessly watching him being taken away...

~~

Serenn gulped, his eyes refocusing onto his surroundings. He looked up, noticing that Allyaah was now stood next to him, a hand about the top of his seat. She looked at him piteously, and slowly took a place in the pilot's seat; just because he was a distinguished and adept Jedi didn't mean that he didn't have moments of weakness or vulnerability.

He looked down, his hands in his lap, "I remember..." he said, "I remember it _so clearly… yet it is my __only memory of such long past days, days when I__ was _so_ young..."_

Allyaah listened carefully - he'd had his spat of anger, and he seemed ready to reflect now.

He took a deep breath, twiddling with his thumbs, "I see my mother..." he said. He paused for a moment, looking blankly ahead, then went on, "It begins in the midst of the chaos, and the first thing I know is that I'm being torn from my mother's arms... I see her distraught face, and her tear-swollen eyes... and then I feel myself begin to break..."

He halted; Allyaah was wondering why he hadn't mentioned this type of thing to her, or anyone else he was close to, before.

"I know I must have been very young..." he continued pensively, "Unable to comprehend what is going on until I see my mother in distress... then it hits me, and I can do nothing..."

He began to fiddle with the buckle on his belt next, and shuffled his feet about on the cockpit floor. Jiao looked down - it wasn't a pleasant memory to have of your parents, if you were to have any at all...

"I know what it is I remember... it was the day I was _taken, the day my parents were 'obliged' to give me up to the Jedi Order," Dooku stated. He looked hard at Allyaah, his eyes intense, "I had a high Midichlorian count, and that was __all that mattered - it was of no concern to them if my parents didn't _want_ me to go, no concern if they _happened_ to want to raise me themselves..."_

"All our parents have to go through it, Serenn..." Jiao whispered to him, "There'd be no Jedi Order if our parents didn't co-operate with the Republican laws..."

He nodded slowly, looking downwards again, "I know, Allyaah... I just wish I couldn't remember the pain that my taking by the Jedi caused my mother..." he replied, "And my father too, I expect."

He steadily managed a weak grin; "If my short memoir is anything to go by, then my father was as stiff as me as far as expressing his 'inner feelings' went..."

Allyaah made a slight laugh, "I wondered if you'd inherited that trait..."

Serenn's smirk dropped, "He just stood there, holding my mother back… just letting me go… leaving me to a bunch of strangers who would train me to be a Jedi…"

Jiao smiled reassuringly toward him, "I know the issue is a difficult one, Serenn… but it's a necessity that we're given this lease of life if we have the ability for it. There are diminishing Jedi numbers, so children born with the gift of the Force have no choice but to become one of us… the Jedi Order becomes our family thereafter," she vindicated.

Dooku raised an eyebrow, "I'm not judging the Jedi regimes, Allyaah, and I realise what you say to be true… it just hurts that this memory won't leave me. It just seems to want to haunt me – just keeps popping up with '_Hey, Serenn, remember this?_'…"

There was another short pause. The 'whir' and bleeps of the cruiser consoles droned in the silence.

Allyaah broke the peace, "Why haven't you talked about it before?" she asked him hushly.

He shrugged slowly, "I just haven't…" he admitted, "It hasn't really been a problem… it just decides to give me a reminder of my past every now and then…"

"I can't understand how you can remember from so far back…" she added in a little wonder, "How old were you when they took you in?"

He thought back, looking up at the ceiling, "I don't know…" he muttered, "Three at most…"

"And you're what now?" she continued.

"I'm not sure, to be honest…" he smiled matter-of-factly, "One kind of loses track…once you're past your teens, you just forget…"

"Come on, Serenn… you must have some idea…" she asked incredulously, giving him a friendly push to the shoulder.

He threw her a half-hearted grin, "Okay, I guess I must be around… thirty-nine, or something…" he surmised.

"So you were taken in some thirty-six years ago" she affirmed, "Yet you _still_ remember that little event…"

"It's nothing to be concerned about, Allyaah" he said dismissively, folding his arms, "Bad dreams happen…"

"Jedi don't have nightmares…" Allyaah said softly, "That's what concerns me, Serenn… last time I checked, there weren't any Jedi who were exceptions from that rule…"

He focused on her hard, giving her a serious stare.

"Dreams pass in time…" he retorted in a downcast manner, keeping his eyes on her.

"In _thirty-six_ years?" she asked dubiously, "That's thirty-six years too long…I think you have some inner demons needing ousting…"

"I haven't had it _constantly_ for thirty-six years, or what-not" he explained seriously, getting tired of what he considered a negligible matter, "It _never_ affected me as a child… I didn't even _recollect_ it, until one day when it decided to reappear in my awareness and _remind_ me…"

She looked at him earnestly, "Then you have to think about _why_ it reappeared, don't you? And why it's haunting you now…"

He leant back into his seat, giving her an inauspicious look, "It's just a bad memory…my _only_ memory as an infant. And it doesn't want me to forget what's transpired in order for my to have become what I am today…" he avowed harshly, "It wants me to know that people have suffered when I was taken. And I assume that, because people have suffered, it doesn't want me to fail…"

"And you're anxious about failing?" she queried, pushing his point further.

He hesitated, "Everyone's afraid of something…" he stated, "Even those who should know no fear…"

Allyaah frowned – a typically convoluted answer from a typically convoluted man; "Is that a yes or a no?" she asked him straight.

"Yes, I fear the outcome of this mission. Yes, I fear that Syfo-Dias may push me too far one day. Yes, I fear that I ruined my parents' lives by being taken from them… I fear many things, just as I don't fear many things," he went on explicitly, "But if it is the way of the Force to twist one's life, and make your own and others' lives a misery, then so be it. If it is the way of the Force to ensure your eventual downfall by some means, then so be it…"

"I don't understand where you're going with these things, Serenn…" Allyaah admitted.

"Neither do I…" he admitted delicately, "Neither do I…"

**To be continued…**


	6. The Deserted Planet

**Author's Notes**: Thankyou for your reviews everyone! They just make me feel so much better – especially good ones! At least I know I'm not just writing to a brick wall. ^_^ And if there are any lurkers about, please just add a lil review or email me so I know what you think too! Don't be shy! I've had lurkers on other fics who email rather than review here.

Latest news is that I have Dooku Fever, so I've started to write a more '_intense'_ Dooku AU fic, called '_Eclipse', _so go and read that if you're after something a little less 'subtle' than this. ^_~ So, I'm now writing _two_ _Star Wars_ stories, whilst maintaining several websites and trying to have a life away from a PC monitor…I'm notorious for trying to do _way_ too much at once! Heh. u_u And sorry this part took so long to emerge! This fic has been maturing gradually since June 2002, believe it or not, and I think that I finally have a clear view of where it's going!

**WDCain:** Hmm…good foresight, you have! ^_^ I won't give much away, but Allyaah is going to get caught in the thick of things.

**Lay'ren:** I am actually planning on finishing…it just may take some time! ^_~ Thanks for your review!

**Charmisjess:** Thankyou – I'm flattered by your comments! I have always thought that Dooku as a Jedi would be stern yet gentle, and it's something I'm striving to portray in this fic – he couldn't have always been evil (if he even is evil at all…^_~). I imagine Jinn & Dooku's relationship to be a very good one – it must have been for Jinn to have turned out so well – so I'm glad you like how I've written it. I'm doing my best, and just 'following my heart', if that's the right phrase. '_Feel, don't think; use your instincts…_' as Qui once said. ^_^

**---------------------------------------------------------------------**

A Test of Faith 

Chapter 6 

Qui-Gon waltzed into the cockpit of the cruiser, realising that they'd come from out of hyperspace. Ahead was a murky brown coloured planet, one of five in the system. He swallowed lightly, and looked down into the co-pilot's seat; his master was asleep there, his chin cushioned upon his collarbone. Jinn chuckled gently, and turned to Allyaah in the pilot's seat, "Is this Colla?" he asked her, kneeling between the seats in the cockpit and leaning onto the edge of Jiao's; he gestured ahead with his hand.

"Colla **_IV_**, Master Jinn," she replied, looking at him briefly, "Colla V is behind us, and you can see the other three in the distance... they're that far off that they look a little like stars, though."

Jinn looked about at them with awe, "Wow," he sighed, "Everything's so beautiful."

"Space is," Allyaah agreed, "But it is also dangerous... very dangerous."

Jinn paused for a second, thinking deeply, before querying, "Why is beauty always wasted upon hazard?"

"Is it?" Jiao returned quizzically.

Jinn grinned, "It seems to be. Beautiful systems are often dangerous, like this one; space is beautiful - but dangerous; some fish and insects seem beautiful, but are actually venomous... and some people likewise."

Allyaah chuckled a little at Jinn's manner, "You're a witty one, Qui-Gon," she said with a smile, "But don't generalise."

"Okay, master, I'll try not to," he nodded gently, rising back onto his feet, and looking out of the window again; Jinn was a tall boy - very tall - almost as though from being trained by a lofty man, he was going to grow the same way; he was definitely taking on Dooku's whimsical edge, and charming manner, if nothing else.

"Do they know we're coming?" Jinn suddenly asked, turning to look upon Allyaah once more.

Allyaah shook her head in reply, "I don't think so," she rejoined.

Jinn rolled his eyes, "Well, I'm sure they'll be happy with uninvited guests turning up on their doorstep."

"You can be sarcastic, Jinn, just don't push it," Jiao warned him, "If you look on things with such pessimism, then you're likely to become more fallible."

Jinn looked back at her sheepishly, "Sorry, master. I just don't want to be unrealistic."

Jiao smiled, "I know, Qui-Gon," she said gently; she turned ahead, watching the consoles before her for some sign of contact – surely the Colicoids, being the isolationists that they were, would contact and question the pilots of unexpected ships before allowing entry…?

They continued to approach Colla IV, and still there was no sign of contact from the Colicoids. Jiao watched the control panel further, unsurely knitting her brow, a slight feeling of something being amiss fizzing in her blood.

Jinn sensed her worry, but kept quiet, feeling the tension too.

Allyaah swallowed lightly, then broke the silence, "Wake your master, Qui-Gon," she asked him, tapping about on the consoles, preparing to enter into the atmosphere of the planet.

Jinn felt like asking '_Why don't you?_', but knew that the atmosphere wasn't right for impertinence, even mocking impertinence. He turned to his master, and gave him a slight shove on the shoulder, "Master_, wakey wakey," he said nonchalantly. _

Jiao couldn't help but smirk - they were quite a twosome, being so unlike most other Master-Apprentice pairings within the Jedi Order.

Noticing that his light pushes weren't having much effect, Jinn gave his teacher a firmer shove, "_Master_!" he said loudly, rocking Dooku's body forcefully.

Serenn slowly opened his eyes, and turned to Qui-Gon grumpily. There was a long pause in which he just glared at his Padawan before he finally retorted, "Thankyou, Master Jinn," with a quiet sarcasm. He then, to Jinn's surprise, abruptly reached over and pushed his apprentice firmly in retaliation, making young Qui-Gon lose his footing and go tumbling down behind Jiao's chair onto the floor. Jinn laughed flippantly, lying flat out on his back.

"Children, behave," Allyaah said sternly yet cordially.

Dooku grinned slightly, looking from his fallen apprentice back to Allyaah. Qui-Gon gradually managed to stop chortling, and proceeded to then slowly return to his feet; "She asked me to wake you, Master! It wasn't my fault!" he smiled, placing blame onto her.

Jiao turned to him, "Thankyou, Master Jinn, for your courtesy," she light-heartedly said.

"No problem, Master Jiao," he countered politely, grinning with charisma.

"I thought it'd be your doing," Dooku beamed at her teasingly. She gave him a slight glance in response, but made no oral reply. Serenn nodded discreetly toward her, before turning to see the planet fast approaching ahead; his mood suddenly dropped into a more sombre mode, "Ah... so this is the reason for my wake up call?" he asked, tossing his hair back over his shoulder.

"Uh-huh" Allyaah replied, "Here's our Colla IV." She turned to Jinn, "Go back and get strapped in Qui-Gon - it'll be a bit bumpy as we enter the atmosphere, and I don't want you to fall and knock yourself out."

Jinn looked to her, "I'll be all right," he said certainly, glancing across to his Master for support. He didn't get it; "Do as she says, Qui," Dooku ordered gently, "She's a more experienced pilot than the both of us put together, so I'm certain that she knows best."

Jinn sighed, then slowly acknowledged his Master's command with a slight nod, "Yes, Master," he said, his Padawan braid bobbing up-and-down by the side of his head. He passed out from the cockpit, and went in the back to belt up.

Serenn took his seatbelt, and strapped himself in, "Do you think we'll get a welcome party? Or an execution procession?" he asked her, smirking with his typical dry scepticism.

Allyaah shook her head in response, "Why are you so cynical all the time?" she asked him quietly, guiding the ship skilfully toward the planet's atmosphere.

"Me, cynical?" he asked her with a muted offence, throwing her a brief grin, "I never look on the down side of things! You must have me confused with someone other."

Jiao nodded, forcing a mild laugh under her breath before reverting to a more solemn manner, "Seriously, Serenn," she said, "I mean, are you okay?"

"I thought that Jedi shouldn't worry for each other," he spoke softly, reminding her of the point she had made to him the other day.

"Serenn_," she warned him._

"Of course I'm okay! I don't have much choice about it, do I? I'm a Jedi; we just have to get on with things," he replied bluntly.

Jiao kept her gaze on the approaching planet ahead, leaving a lull in their conversation for the moment, and watched as the ship began to enter Colla IV's atmosphere. She kept her hands steadily on the controls, concentrating on what she was doing, and slowly took their craft through the atmosphere, having a few moments to relax before she would be close enough to the planet surface to consider landing. Turning back to the esteemed Jedi Master again, she continued; "I know you're one of our greatest Jedi. I know you were privileged enough to be the final Padawan trained to Knighthood by Yoda, and I know a lot is expected of you. But I also know that you're still human; you have problems, but you keep them locked up, and try and deal with them on your own… and I'll just say it again, even though I know you don't want to hear it at all – it wouldn't hurt for you to open up a little."

"Don't lecture me, Allyaah," was all he rejoined with. That tinged the atmosphere between the old friends coldly, and Allyaah found the final silent descent down to the planet's surface dreadfully awkward.

***            *           *          ***

The ship landed smoothly on the barren wasteland that was Colla IV, and, once its engines ground to a halt, and it rested peacefully on its legs, the small Jedi party made their way out of the craft, pacing steadily down its ramp. The atmosphere outside was brutally arid, and Jinn immediately felt his lips go crisp once he set foot onto the waterless, rocky surface; "It's so dry!" he gasped, coughing hard as he choked on the dusty air.

Dooku ruffled his hair teasingly, "Stop whining, Master Jinn," he smirked, "We're all suffering."

"You should be better off then me, boys," Allyaah smiled, "Apparently, men have one percent more water in their bodies than women."

" 'Men?'" Dooku asked frivolously, looking around himself, "There's only one 'man' here."

"I'm _not_ a child anymore if that's what you're trying to say, Master!" Jinn snapped at his mentor jokily, obstinately folding his arms in the process and giving Dooku a hard stare.

"Okay, lads, enough," Jiao said before Serenn could continue his tease, "We have things to do." She walked away from the ship, ahead of the two, and looked over the dry landscape, squinting at the horizon that trembled vulnerably in the heat; the sun above blazed down mercilessly on them all, glinting brilliantly off of their ship's hull. A dust-ridden breeze suddenly blew into her countenance, forcing her to glance away and wipe the invading particles from her eyes. Jinn meanwhile took a good look at the immediate vicinity, seeing nothing here, or anywhere for miles around for that matter, that wasn't flat or rocky, or in a horrible, monotonous shade of yellow-brown; the grisly orange sky complimented this setting.

"Did you land on the right planet, Allyaah?" Qui-Gon called over to her, his Padawan braid fluttering into his face as another breeze blustered past, hot and stifling, "There's nothing here!"

"Master Jinn, I can tell my Colla IV from my Colla III, so don't tell me that I've landed on the wrong planet!" she promptly rejoined, hands on hips, turning back to him.

"Are you so blind, my Padawan?" Dooku suddenly quizzed Jinn whimsically, his condescending-come-mocking smirk appearing on his visage.

Jinn frowned, wheeling about to face Dooku, " '_Blind'_?" he spurted, "Master, look around! There's _nothing_ here!"

Serenn shook his head gently with a slight scoff, and opened his hand over the ground; with a small rumble, he drew a large stone up into his palm from the floor, and, with a lightning quick movement, flung it ahead of them all, sending it flying through the air.

Jinn watched the stone soar uncertainly, following its climb then descent, until it landed upon a curved rise in the ground with an immense 'crack'.

**_SQUAWK!!!_**

The 'rise in the ground' shot up onto its feet, claws a-blazing, and squealed viciously at the party – it had been a hidden and camouflaged Colicoid!

Jinn gasped, jumping back with a start.

"Your eyes can deceive you," Dooku stated to the boy, "Don't trust them."

"Yes, Master," Jinn nodded breathlessly, keeping his wide eyes on the insectoid that had burst forth from the ground; the creature's small, beady eyes fixed themselves on the trio of humans, its pincers clicking together whilst it thought things over. Its head was joined to its curved, main shell mounted over its back, and it stood on a tripod of spindly yet sturdy legs; it possessed two giant fore-claws, that were in essence long, pointed shells, under which its smaller, more intricate hands were hidden. These claws emitted a pungent and toxic venom from their forked tips, which was used in combat and self-defence to a lethal and atrocious affect. It was a terrifying-looking, almost invulnerable beast.

Serenn stepped steadily over to where Allyaah stood, leaving his stunned Padawan by the ship, coming much closer to the dazed Colicoid that he had impolitely awoken; "I don't have to tell you how rude that was, Serenn," Allyaah hissed at him irritably, giving him a meaningful look as he stopped by her side.

Dooku shrugged, "It taught Qui-Gon a lesson."

Allyaah shook her head slowly at him, and watched as he went on to step toward the roused beetle; it regarded the towering Jedi warily – visitors to Colla IV were few and far between, and visits from humans even more so.

"Greetings, friend," Dooku nodded to the creature, his dislike of the species kept well concealed within the fine folds of his demeanour, "We're here on business of the Republic, and would appreciate speaking to one of your superiors. Could you direct us to the city of 'Drykos', please?"

The Colicoid's tiny, black eyes blinked, looking from Dooku to his two companions, to their ship, before then glancing back to Dooku again.

" 'Drykos'? Your capital city?" Serenn asked again, looking hard at the Colicoid.

It's pincers clicked once more, and it made another sweeping glance over the Jedi party, a vacant, baffled look in its eyes.

"Do we understand one another?" the Jedi Master tried once more, uttering his every syllable slowly and clearly.

The creature stepped backward, seeming more afraid of Dooku than the party of it.

"It's a worker drone Serenn," Allyaah said, appearing by his side.

"Your point being?" he returned discreetly.

"That Jedi Masters should do their homework," she grimaced.

Serenn was the one giving her a meaningful glance now, out of the corner of his eyes.

Allyaah got the message and continued, "Workers are the lowest class of Colicoids – they're not well educated, and do not have the intelligence of the higher social levels of the nests."

"He doesn't 'do Basic', you mean?" Dooku queried mildly.

"Yes, exactly," she smiled.

Serenn sighed, looking back upon the beast again as Jinn steadily made his way up to Allyaah and him, looking cautiously at the beetle-like creature between the gap of Dooku and Jiao's bodies; the Colicoid gave the Padawan an equally unsound returning glance.

"Would you like to 'chirp' to him in his own language, then?" Serenn asked Allyaah astringently, rubbing his beard over whilst hanging his other hand on his hip.

Allyaah adopted 'the look' again, "Don't be ridiculous," she replied casually.

"How do we find Drykos, then?" Dooku went on, "We're talking about an underground city."

"Underground?" Jinn suddenly asked, breaking his stare from the guarded Colicoid, still stood before them all silently.

"Yes. Don't you recall your research?" Dooku posed toward him.

"Oh…'course," Qui replied with a nod, thinking back to his recent hefty research, and all that he had discovered about the Colicoids and their planet.

"Just have patience," Allyaah reassured Serenn, giving his arm a tap, "We'll find the coordinates of the city via our cruiser's radar – it shouldn't be a problem; we have a map of the planet on file." She turned to make her way back to the ship, "Now, come on, and leave that poor thing alone."

Dooku paused, his underlying ire for this mission bubbling up for a moment through the cracks of his disposition; he gave the Colicoid one last glance, before exhaling loudly and following Allyaah to the ship.

Jinn watched after the two before looking back to the mystified Colicoid, still stood in the same position, with its black, empty eyes gazing at him; "Sorry," he shrugged, "My Master gets like that sometimes…you ought to try living with it! Though hurling rocks at me isn't something he's ever done before, but I wouldn't put it passed him…"

The Colicoid blinked again, ever more bemused. Qui-Gon opened his mouth to make a vain continuation of his monologue, but was interrupted by his Master's call; "Qui-Gon!"

Jinn halted, sighing; "Well, bye then," he nodded to the Colicoid, before running off after his teacher.

***            *           *          ***

[Jedi…three Jedi"]

["_Fully-trained_ Jedi?"]

["…I don't know…reports from outpost suggest there being two adults and a youth."]

["Did outpost make contact with them?"]

["No…outpost posed as a mute…"]

["Good. Let these so-called 'resourceful' creatures make their own way here. It'll be a challenge worthy of them."]

["Wait…outpost confirms that one of the Jedi is a Master…and a strong one."]

["Strong? How does outpost know?"]

["Outpost says that its profile matches that of a Jedi Master in the Galactic Database…'Dooku', it's called."]

[" 'Dooku?'…I have heard its name before."]

["It led the campaign to quell the Nal Hutta riots, not far from here, some time ago. We lost good business partners because of those riots…"]

["It was the Republic's fault those riots even started. And they only made matters worse when they tried to remedy the riots with their inane Jedi Knights."]

["It'd be interesting to use this 'Dooku' then. It may be just the one we need for our grubs…"]

["Yes…is it _very_ powerful?"]

["Apparently so. A leading member of the Jedi Councils trained it. It's an infamous speaker, too, and a strong warrior."]

["But what of its midichlorian count? That's the important thing; that's why we drew those creatures here in the first place. Those other Jedi could have been set free otherwise, though they deserved death for their intrusion. Their blood was too weak."]

["…Confirmed – it has a _high_ midichlorian count. It could be perfect."]

["Draw them in, then. Tell outposts and garrisons not to kill them. Yet."]

["Yes, your highness…"]

***            *           *          *******

"There, look! We're only ten miles from Drykos," Allyaah said, pointing to the display on the radar in the ship's control room, "We can get there in no time!" She turned to Dooku with a smug look, "And you doubted me?"

"Since when have I _ever_ doubted you, Allyaah?" he smirked suavely in return.

"Yeah, yeah, mister Charisma," she smiled, giving him a friendly shove, and switching off the readout, "Come on – let's get a move on." She rose from her seat before the control panels, and paced out of the cockpit.

"We've got to walk?" Jinn whinged, gawping at Allyaah's 'get there in no time' comment, "In this hot desert? What if we get lost? What if we shrivel up into prunes and die in a most embarrassing way? For lack of a better phrase, I'd never live it down!"

"Just 'use the Force', Jinn – how many times must someone say that to you?" Dooku replied, completely unmoved by Jinn's melodramatics, "And, besides, we're not walking. We have a couple of swoops in the hull."

"We do? Oh, bless the Jedi shipyard for being so resourceful!" Qui-Gon cheered with elation, leaping up from his seat and rushing out after Jiao.

Serenn chuckled to himself and steadily followed his lively protégé.

TBC… 


	7. The Slippery Slope

**Author's Notes**: I don't think I've yet mentioned this, but when any of the Jedi or what-not are communicating telepathically, the words they converse with will be in forward slashes; so, if Qui-Gon wanted to tell Dooku that he was hungry telepathically, it'd look like so:

/I'm hungry, Master/

Simple enough, right? ^_^

**Seung Mina:** I'm glad you're enjoying it! I've aimed to make Qui-Gon a very liable and excitable young man, and the story overall, even though it will have its dark moments, is going to be fairly light-hearted. Keep reading!

**---------------------------------------------------------------------**

A Test of Faith 

Chapter 7 

The Ground whizzed passed beneath their dangling feet as the trio of Jedi zoomed over the desert-like region of Colla IV on their swoop bikes, the wind blustering through the loose fibres of their robes. They wore protective goggles over their eyes to shield their sight from the gritty sand that constantly blew into them, mingled with the stuffy air. They were all concentrating on the journey ahead, travelling on toward Drykos, the capital city of the planet.

Jinn clasped Jiao around her waist, sat behind her on her speeder bike, whilst his Master rode solo, on ahead. Dooku was a reckless Jedi, and (Jinn had found out once in a swoop simulation lesson, which he would rather not recall…) a reckless pilot. Therefore, Qui had opted to ride with Jiao rather than risk further embarrassment by riding with his mentor.

In the distance, a few mountain peaks finally gave life to the predominantly flat horizon, but were still as yet quite far away, and much further beyond where Drykos should be situated if Allyaah's map reading skills were anything to go by.

"How much further?" Dooku called to Allyaah, dropping back to her side on his bike, his long, black hair whipping wildly behind him.

"Just stick with me!" Allyaah replied; Jinn meanwhile gave his Master a mischievous wave, smirking smugly, "Tailgate, master, tailgate!" he taunted.

Serenn gave his Padawan the 'very funny' facial gesture, before abruptly shooting back behind them, following closely in their wake.

"Put him in his place!" Jinn laughed as he turned back to Allyaah.

She smiled, "He'll get his own back, Qui – you know him better than that."

The sun splashed gloriously across the land as the two speeders sped across the open, desolate plains, forlorn specks in the wide expanse of nothingness that seemed to embody Colla IV; lonely rocks in the ground could or could not be individual, camouflaged Colicoids, waiting to strike at any unwanted intruders, or secretively spying on the rare passer-by.

One of these 'lonely rocks' infact was doing just the latter; as the two swoops tore passed, the rock rose its head from the ground, revealing itself to be one of many concealed Colicoids on the planet's surface. It fixed its beady eyes on the disappearing dots that were the three Jedi, swiftly riding further into Colla IV's void of a landscape, and reported the sighting promptly via commlink to its superiors – this world, despite its appearance, was at the tip of technological advancement, with all of the planet's resident nests being made up of droid manufacturers, a practise hidden in the lowest abysses of the subterranean structures.

["They're on their way…"]

***            *           *          ***

["Garrison point 5 has seen the newcomers…"]

["All three?"]

["…Yes…they're riding swoops."]

["Excellent…"]

***            *           *          ***

Serenn kept his eyes on Allyaah ahead, the scenery becoming tediously monotonous, and the hum of his speeder bike's engine ringing frustratingly in his ears. That was until, suddenly, his ears felt liable to pop, seeming as though they were filling with water. He frowned, cringing as this pressurising feeling spread to his mind, and made his skull feel as though it were closing in…

Blinking hard, he groaned in pain and aggravation, trying to remain conscious, let alone focused.

'_Serenn_…'

He swallowed hard, his throat dry; "What?" he growled in a vain response to the empty voice, echoing within his subconscious.

'_Blood is the key'_

"Blood?"

'_Life is the blood. Blood is the key'_

"I don't understand…"

'_Don't let it be taken away from you…_'

"What are you talking about?"

Allyaah felt the Force prod at her temple suddenly; /Serenn/ it uttered to her; something was wrong with her friend.

Responding to this enigmatic warning, she turned about to look at the Jedi Master, slowing her swoop a little; she could feel the weight on his mind, could sense something amiss…

/Serenn?/

Dooku's eyes widened as Allyaah's voice broke through the suffocating bubble that had enveloped his mind; /Allyaah…?/ he sighed.

/Are you all right?/ she continued.

/I'm fine…carry on/ he insisted.

/Are you sure?/

/Yes. Keep going/

Allyaah sighed, turning back to concentrate on her driving, and taking a firmer grip on the handlebars of her swoop. 

Jinn bit his lip gently, having not been completely oblivious to Jiao's silent conversation with his tutor; "Is Master Dooku okay?" he queried softly.

Allyaah nodded, "I think so…he's just under a bit of pressure, that's all."

Qui-Gon nodded steadily, giving his Master a quick glance back over his shoulder, uncertain about what he was going through at the moment; it couldn't be anything good, whatever it was.

It was but several more minutes before, the sun flagging into dusk, Allyaah drew her swoop to a halt by a jutting rock face that reached about nine feet high into the air, a lone monolith in the middle of the desolate landscape. Dooku drew up besides her, leaning forward onto his bike's handlebars as he came to a halt, exhaling profoundly and pulling his goggles from off of his eyes.

Jiao pulled off her own goggles and looked across to the Jedi Master, trying to read his expression, whilst Jinn decided not to give Dooku any time, and, in his typically unsubtle manner, asked bluntly, "Master, what's wrong with you?" drawing his goggles down to hang about his neck.

Serenn looked up to his Padawan silently; both Jinn and Jiao were now looking at him.

"I'm fine," he said after a pause, looking between the two quickly, "Don't fuss…"

Qui-Gon rolled his eyes, only to see Allyaah do the same – it was clear that Dooku was becoming a predictable character.

"And Yoda's seven-foot-five – you don't half lie Serenn!" Allyaah seriously retorted, getting up off the swoop and kicking its stand out, before turning and giving Dooku a sceptical look.

"He doesn't lie," Jinn replied with a gentle grin, "He just 'shades the truth' a lil…"

"Qui-Gon, shut up!" Serenn snapped, his eyes blazing at his apprentice.

Jinn looked momentarily startled and beheld his Master with an uncertain and browbeaten air, swallowing hard. Serenn sighed again, leaning his head forward onto the handlebars once more.

"You said he'd get me back…" Jinn murmured to Allyaah, his tone considerably hurt.

"I didn't mean like that," she quietly replied, giving the Padawan's cropped hair a ruffle in a gesture of friendly support.

"Don't worry," he told her confidently, keeping his voice low, "It just means that he's hurt and doesn't want to talk about it…I've known him long enough to be able to suss his behavioural patterns."

" 'He' can still hear you, Master Jinn," Serenn barked, raising his head again so that he could look upon his Padawan learner.

"For the Force's sake, will you calm down?" Allyaah shouted at him, gesticulating wildly with her hands, "You've got no right to treat your Padawan like that!"

Serenn shot to his feet, getting from off his swoop, and standing before his female ally with a dark, brooding look on his countenance, attempting to use his height as a dominant factor over her; "And you have no right to tell me how to speak to my Padawan!" he growled.

"I didn't have to come on this mission, Serenn, so _don't_ go getting crotchety with me!" she rejoined, "If you just talked about what's hurting you once in a while, we'd all benefit!"

"We've had this argument already today!"

"I know – it's getting boring!"

"Shall we stop shouting at each other and get on with things, then?"

"Yes, sounds like a plan."

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

"Fine…?" Jinn piped at the end, completely thrown; he looked between the two with confusion, the firing round having stopped as quickly as it had started.

Dooku kicked his own speeder stand out, and set it firmly on its legs, before taking a deep breath and putting his hands to his hips; he looked out beyond the outcropping by which they stood, asking, "Which way now, then?" his calm disposition remarkably back in place.

Allyaah made a gesture for the Master and Padawan to follow, "This way," she said, beginning to walk over to the barely perceptible entrance to the city of Drykos.

Jinn shook his head in admiration at his tutor, finally slipping from off the swoop, the rift between them quickly sealed, "You sure have a way with women, Master," he smirked.

Serenn's eyebrows cocked gently, "Or women have a way with me," he retorted dryly, following Allyaah; she just ignored them both completely.

***            *           *          ***

The entrance to Drykos was a mere hold in the earth, apparently one of many access points into the subterranean city from the ground above. The trio of humans stepped down into the orifice warily, carefully climbing down into the winding, steep and most narrow tunnel that stretched out beneath them. The ground was dangerously smooth, and the tunnel dreadfully dark, so that the three Jedi could barely see their own hands in front of their faces. Each knew, though, that the slightest wrong footing could send them slipping over on the slippery surface, and sliding down into the unknown.

So, therefore, it was only natural that Jinn lost his balance…

"Whoah!" Jinn suddenly cried, losing his footing, and breaking both Dooku & Jiao's concentration in the process; his hands flailed against the slippery, cold tunnel walls to either side of him as he fell with a thump onto his rear, and immediately slid speedily into his Master infront of him on the frictionless floor; Serenn grunted, his lanky legs floundering futilely as Jinn knocked them from beneath him, before he too fell onto his back, his head falling onto Jinn's chest as his Padawan sat behind him; Jinn gave him a cheeky wave in the gloom. Dooku didn't have time to shake his head back as the two of them then hurtled into Jiao, who, with the weight of the two of them piling into her, didn't even bother to resist as she collapsed into Serenn's lap. All three then went skidding on down the precipitous, black, meandering slope that fell ahead of them, unknowing of what waited at its mysterious end.

It was a most amusing sight, looking like something from a family day out at a funfair, where everyone goes down the slide together – except that this was in a completely diverse context!

"Trust you, _Master Jinn_!" Serenn yelled back to his Padawan as they picked up speed and zoomed down the incline at a tremendous rate, dark rock faces flashing passed either side of them, a subterranean, stale-water smell hitting them in their faces as they descended into the planet's depths.

"It's not my fault I have big feet!" Jinn retorted, clutching hard about his Master's waist as if in hope that his mentor may provide him with some protection when they finally reached the end.

"You'll grow into them," Allyaah added, blessed with the severe misfortune of heading the train, "I hope Drykos isn't miles underground, or we'll be sliding for quite some time!"

"Well, we'll be there quicker than if we walked…" Serenn mused, his humour as deadpan as ever.

"My rear's on fire as it is, with all these rocks chafing against it…" Jinn griped, "I won't have a backside left if we go on much longer!"

Dooku rolled his eyes, "That's a pleasant conception, Qui-Gon!" he muttered, swiftly changing the subject to something more constructive, "Why on Coruscant have they got a giant slide into their city? I'm guessing it's not for personal amusement every time they go home!"

"DUCK!" Jinn suddenly yelled. All three Jedi obeyed without question, bending over forward to lower their heads from the ceiling as a low hanging mound of rock careered overhead, having come close to knocking them all out. Once the danger had passed, the trio cautiously all rose their heads again; Dooku looked back to his Padawan, "I commend you for your foresight, Master Jinn!" he said nonchalantly.

"I commend you for your blind obedience, Master Dooku," Jinn nodded in return.

Serenn turned back to Allyaah, who now answered his recent question, calling back to him as they continued to skid on, "The Colicoids are beetles. They travel by curling up, and rolling" – Allyaah demonstrated the 'curling' and 'rolling' of the Colicoids with her hands to Serenn, holding them close to his eyes so that he could see – "This would probably be the best way to allow them to enter their nests quickly!"

"Well how in the Force's name do they see where they're going?" he pondered aloud, squinting ahead and looking on into the ever-thickening gloom; he clutched Allyaah tightly about the waist, like Jinn was doing to him, keeping them together.

Allyaah shrugged, "They don't," she said understatedly, "They just trust that the tunnel's constructors did a good job and that they will end up in their city…"

Serenn shook his head, "Well, I guess that they didn't have humans in mind when they built it!"

Allyaah managed to laugh despite the situation, "Guess not!" she replied, placing her hands over Serenn's out of comfort, having no one infront of her to cling on to.

***            *           *          ***

["They've found their way here. Garrison 12 reports that they've entered the city by Port 132."]

["Excellent. Monitor them…they'll be here soon, and we want to give them a hearty welcome when they arrive, don't we?"]

***            *           *          ***

Half an hour had passed. Jinn looked up at the ceiling as it continued to rush by, and sighed, "Master, I don't want to tell you how _boring_ this is getting." They were still sliding quickly down the twisting and turning slope of the narrow channel into Drykos.

Allyaah seemed to be half asleep, her head cushioned against Dooku's chest as their descent continued.

"Tell me about it," the Jedi Master grumbled, "I think they need stop-off points down here…I regret to say that I need to, for lack of a better phrase, relieve my bladder."

"Don't you dare," Allyaah groaned, proving that she was still awake and giving him a lethargic elbow in the process whilst she waited for their tedious 'fairground ride' to end.

"I happen to have a good constitution Allyaah, so be reassured," Serenn retorted.

"Drip, drip," Jinn wheedled into his Master's ear. Dooku elbowed him hard, causing Qui-Gon to wheeze deeply; "We do not take pride in the suffering of others, my young Padawan leaner!" he said in a serious yet facetious tone.

"And we do not in turn cause the suffering of others, Master!" Qui gasped, winded from Dooku's blow, "Besides, you should have gone before we left."

Serenn opened his mouth to respond, but was interrupted before he could when Allyaah shot up off his chest and shouted, "I see the light!"

"I wish Qui would once in a while…" he dryly muttered; Jinn gave him another nudge.

"No, I mean it – the chute's coming to an end!" she went on.

"Joy!" Qui-Gon smiled.

"Brace yourselves!" Serenn ordered, clutching Allyaah hard whilst Jinn tightened his grip about his waist.

They whizzed out of the end of the tunnel, and, thanks to a kink in the ground, went flying chaotically all over the place. Allyaah spun into a stalagmite, Serenn rolled over several times before ending up with his legs up a wall, lying on his back at its foot, whilst Jinn went smack into a crater and splashed head first into a small pool within.

They sighed in tandem (Jinn's groan bubbling up through the water he was submerged beneath).

Qui-Gon pulled his head out of the pool and spat out a small stream of water, before clumsily stumbling out of the crater; the environment around him spun in a dizzying fashion, his mind seeming to think that he was still moving whilst his feet assured him that he wasn't, causing a stomach-churning confusion to erupt in his head. "Well, that was fun," he sighed sarcastically, "They'll enjoy hearing about that back at the Temple." He rubbed his backside, cringing at its soreness, before looking between his Master and Allyaah.

"Get back on your feet, Master," he chuckled, looking at his mentor's comical pose, "Or I'll be tempted to take a picture. You look like you've tried to do a handstand but failed miserably."

Jinn got a mere hand gesture from his teacher, which meant something akin to, but less offensive than, 'get lost'…or words to that similar effect.

Allyaah unfurled from about her stalagmite, throwing her disarrayed hair back over her head, before shakily returning to her unsteady feet. She leant onto this same rock form for balance, warbling, "Never again…" her vision also spinning nauseatingly before her.

"How are we going to get back out again?" Qui posed, "We can't 'slide' back up, exactly."

Allyaah paused for a moment, unable to answer, before saying, "We'll think about that when we come to it…" She turned to Dooku, "On your feet, resident acrobat."

Serenn heaved a sigh, "I can't tell whether I'm on my feet or not, the room's spinning so much!" He rolled over onto his side, bringing his legs down from up the wall, before slowly retrieving his bearings. Jinn noticed that Allyaah hadn't got the hand gesture from him, too.

Jiao looked about them – they were in some kind of natural antechamber that led from the end of the chute (and the end of several other chutes, by the looks of things) into what she presumed was the city. It was lighter in this cavernous cavity than it had been in the tunnel, the light of some kind of flame flickering in through a large opening over the room's far side, the supposed entrance to Drykos.

Jinn shook the water from his hair briefly, before saying, "I hope that there isn't _another_ slide beyond that archway."

"I doubt that we can descend much further before we reach the city," Allyaah replied frankly, "That's got to be the way now."

Serenn finally made his way over to the two. He stood between them, looking down to them both and sighing profoundly, "Are we moving on, then?" he asked. Allyaah looked at him with a mischievous smile before raising a hand to his head and brushing some of his wildly disarrayed locks of hair back into place; "Yup," she replied, then stepping a few paces ahead toward the large, far aperture.

Dooku turned to Jinn. His Padawan mimicked Allyaah, but swept his Master's hair back the wrong way again, before smiling mockingly at him. Dooku gave him 'the look' before swiftly tugging his apprentice's ponytail in retaliation, and walking off before Jinn could get him back again, rearranging his hair along the way. Allyaah meanwhile took the lead of the party once more as their journey continued.

TBC… 


	8. The City of Drykos

**Author's Notes**: I'm getting better response over at the 'Jedi Council Forums' on TF.Net for this – if you're a member over there, pop on over and look for my fic in the 'Before the Saga' Fanfic Forum – I can interact with you all better that way! ^_^ But R&R here if you want – I'll keep posting it over here, regardless.

And, BTW, I don't read any EU stuff usually, so this pays no heed to it. ^_^ I'm a SW film fan, not a SW book & comic fan on the whole.

**Seung Mina**: Hi again, faithful reader! ^_^ I'm sure Allyaah will cope – she's a tough gal! Keep reading!

**---------------------------------------------------------------------**

A Test of Faith 

Chapter 8 

The walk into the outskirts of the underground city was scary to say the least. Only the sounds of their feet echoed about the enormous, cavernous place that was Drykos, the gentle hiss of hidden exhaust vents and concealed, muted rivers barely audible in the background. From the exit of the tunnel the trio had emerged into a gigantic cavern, whose roof reached miles into the air, and whose base could not even be distinguished in the dark abysses below. Walkways of cold, blue rock crisscrossed all over the place on multiple levels, reaching between rock-hewn structures and down to lower rock-hewn platforms. The light in the cavern was unsteady due to the flickering of the flames on the all too sparse torches, which were bracketed on the walls and columns of the conurbation at odd and uneven intervals.

Jinn swallowed, pacing quietly after his Master and Allyaah as they walked from the antechamber of the tunnel exits into the enormous main chamber of Drykos. He glanced at the large, natural columns that bordered the walkway, reaching down from the lofty ceiling to the imperceptible floor, each filled with black, gaping holes that he deduced were Colicoid dwellings. "Where are they?" Jinn whispered to his Master, swallowing hard; he was certain that no city, even an insectoid one, was usually as dead as this, at any time of day – there was absolutely no sign of life. It was like a ghost town.

Serenn discreetly shook his head, keeping his voice low, "I don't know, my boy," he admitted, his sharp eyes peering between all of the unrefined abodes warily.

Allyaah was equally mystified, "I didn't expect a welcome party, but this is ridiculous…" she mused, stepping to the edge of their walkway and looking down between the gap of two of the path's bordering stone pillars; there was a profound drop off this path's edge, and she could just discern more walkways crossing over on levels far below, down in the city's even darker depths. It was clear that the capital was a multi-tiered structure, reaching deep down from the planet's surface.

"We'd ought to just keep walking," she insisted, taking the lead and pacing further down the rocky path, on passed further rock-strewn structures; all of the stone down here seemed to be a blue-black in nature, shining a dull green when light touched it in a ghostly manner.

The scenery around them grew dreadfully repetitive as they marched on for another good half hour, their breaths rasping in the still and stuffy atmosphere. Subterranean geysers steamed on levels far below, sending heated air up besides the walkways, making the Jedi sweat beneath their layered robes (Jinn wanted to take his robes off his chest, but Serenn would not allow it – besides it being unfair on Allyaah, he pointed out that he didn't want to scare the Colicoids). 

Perspiration beaded on their brows as their trek continued, the peculiar silence in the seemingly deserted city growing ever thicker until the slightest, out-of-place noise made them all jump.

Then suddenly, the silence was broken when Jinn heard a 'whoosh' to his left; gasping, he turned about to face the noise, and found himself staring at a blank, far wall, across the gap from their walkway.

"Did you hear that?" he whispered to his tutor, grabbing Dooku's arm and pulling him to a halt.

"No…" Serenn replied, pulling his arm from his Padawan's grasp, "It was probably just you kicking a pebble again."

"It wasn't!" Jinn said certainly, "Something moved along that far wall!" He pointed out to the place he was certain the noise had come from. Dooku continued to shake his head gently, seeing and sensing nothing, whilst Allyaah took a little more interest and stepped to Jinn's side, squinting through the gloom at the far wall. She just managed to make out a ledge along it, wide enough to accommodate one human; "He might be right this time," she said, glancing back to Serenn.

Dooku glanced to Jinn, "About time," he remarked wryly.

" 'About time' " Jinn scoffed quietly, shaking his head and folding his arms. 

The three Jedi continued on, the Colicoid burrows become sparser yet more elaborate about them, carved more finely than the ones on the city's outskirts, with engravings of their own kind and of frightening native beasts littered all over their outer walls. "I think we've reached the bourgeois estate," Serenn murmured as they passed these more sophisticated residences, glancing over the ever more deserted cityscape exhaustively for some sign of life.

Whoosh 

Serenn jolted to the right, "Now I heard _that_," he muttered anxiously, his eyes quickly searching the vicinity for the source of the noise.

"Me too," Jiao concurred, "We're being followed."

"They're probably hiding because they don't want to get _rocks_ thrown at them!" Jinn mused, looking at his Master with a dour grin, "Who can blame them for being coy?"

Dooku turned to him, "It's not a common practise of mine, Qui-Gon," he rejoined deprecatingly.

"They don't know that," Qui reminded his tutor, propping his hands on his hips in a complacent gesture.

"Well, don't make them think it either!"

"Come on, you two!" Allyaah interrupted them, "I don't know how you'd get along without me…you're always bickering!"

"It's what we do," Jinn stated, "Right, Master? There's method in our madness!"

"Somewhere," Serenn smirked. Jiao just shook her head.

Whoosh 

Allyaah spun about, staring up the pathway that they were stood upon, and just caught the glimpse of a shiny, rolling object spinning over the path ahead, zooming out of one fissure and down into another.

"I think we're expected," Dooku assumed.

They all cautiously began to walk ahead again, the walkway opening out onto a great, stone plateau, surrounded by even more exquisite-looking edifices, these carved into the rocks with great care and attention to detail, each structure decorated with pillars, arches, gargoyles (many of which looked like the infamous Acklay beast) and temple-like roofs.

A shudder ran through Serenn's body suddenly, "My mind's all fuzzy…" he murmured as they stepped out into the centre of this square, looking warily round the dark arches and doorways about them, surrounded by buildings on all sides; "Does the Force feel…'muted' to you down here?" he queried.

Allyaah nodded, "Yes," she accented, "It's unclear, unfocused…"

Jinn looked between a couple of Colicoid statues that bordered the biggest and most majestic construction ahead of them, fanning his face with his hand; "I'm hot…" he sighed.

"Stop whining," Serenn returned light-heartedly, ruffling his apprentice's hair in a provoking gesture, "We're all hot."

_Whoosh_

_Whoosh_

Whoosh 

Suddenly, rolling in from all directions, from out of every orifice and dark corner, from every doorway and cavity, came hundreds of Colicoids, spinning rapidly around the trio of Republic Knights in their coiled up postures, their shiny shells giving them superb leverage.

"Formation!" Serenn ordered. The three turned about and stood back-to-back in a small, defensive circle, watching the Colicoids spin round them, having them trapped.

"Can I say a cliché, Master?" Jinn whispered.

"Make it quick, boy," Serenn returned, his hand twitching over his lightsabre hilt, his brown eyes dark and concentrated. 

Jinn watched the Colicoids rolling passed him in a dizzying fashion, feeling the sensation truly hit him that he wasn't in a safe simulation room in the Jedi Temple any more, "I've got a bad feeling about this," he finally muttered. Allyaah, meanwhile, kept her cool, reluctant to start a brawl, her lightsabre only ever leaving her belt at the last and most desperate hour.

Slowly but surely, all of the beetles began to slow to abrupt halts, leaping out from their coiled up postures into their 'attack modes', stood sturdily on their tripod of legs, their large fore-claws held out at the ready, and their beady eyes bright and attentive. The three Jedi were now completely surrounded by armed-and-dangerous Colicoids.

Dooku swallowed, looking over this circle of creatures carefully, his potent eyes passing over each individual beetle steadily and with care – he couldn't read any of these creatures' features, all of them lacking the expressive capacity of a human or other regular sentient species.

They froze, waiting. The Colicoids held their poisonous claw-like plates up toward them, but seemed to have little or no intention of attacking.

"What do I do, Master?" Jinn asked his tutor nervously, having not a clue how to respond to this situation.

Serenn reached back with his left hand and touched his Padawan's arm in a reassuring gesture, "Nothing, Qui. It's okay, just stay by me."

"Greetingsch humansch," a crackling, indescribably inhuman tone erupted from behind the Master and Padawan, laying an incredible emphasis on every 's' it uttered.

Dooku and Jinn turned round steadily in Allyaah's direction, watching a Colicoid, its shell brightly painted with reds and golds, and adorned with a purple headdress of feathers, slowly made its way toward them, stepping through a gap in the circle of warrior drones, pacing forward with a motion like a sidewinder serpent on its three, spindly legs. "Forgive the unwelcoming…'welcome', humansch, but we are wary of outschidersch."

"I guessed," Dooku murmured curtly. Allyaah have him a discreet elbow; /Be quiet/ she uttered telepathically to him.

"Greetings," Allyaah nodded courteously in return, giving the creature the customary Jedi bow, "I am Allyaah Jiao, Jedi Knight. These are my friends and colleagues, Padawan Qui-Gon Jinn and his mentor, Master Serenn Dooku." She held her hand out to each of her comrades respectively.

/Master should precede Padawan, Allyaah/ Dooku reminded her.

/Stop picking holes/ she threw back, giving him a brief glance; he gave her a charming nod in return, purposely being a nuisance.

"Jedi?" the creature gravelled on, "What buschinessch do you have here on Colla?"

"We have been sent here on the business of the Republic," Dooku explained, his tone stern and standoffish, "To investigate the disappearance of two of our associates here recently."

Allyaah quickly butted in before Serenn could continue, his aloof outset not promising to help them at all in their quest; /Subtlety, Serenn, subtlety…/ she reminded him. "Yes," she went on aloud, "And we were _hoping_ that you could help us with our investigations." She took the next pause as a chance to give Dooku another reminding elbow, hoping to keep the notoriously reckless Jedi in check.

Jinn remained silent, studying the painted Colicoid hard – it was clearly one of the highly educated, upper echelons of its society, having the ability to talk Basic and the privilege of being painted vibrantly. These colours must have some meaning of rank or position, Qui-Gon was positive, though he couldn't recall reading anything about it in the Archives. But, seeing as people rarely returned from this place, he guessed that they couldn't report these things upon which the Archives needed updating.

"Ah, I schee…" the 'captain' Colicoid (as Jinn decided to christen it) continued, its pincers clicking together.

"Are you in charge here?" Serenn queried, eyes ever more intense, hoping not to incur another elbow from Allyaah.

The captain Colicoid regarded Dooku with an air of severe dislike, and all of the surrounding Colicoids seemed to sense this, closing in a little on the group and clicking their pincers menacingly, their fore-claws held forward and their small, beady eyes fixed on the tallest Jedi.

Serenn looked over them all curtly, realising that they were threatening him and him alone. He swallowed, sensing that something was immensely amiss in this insectoid society.

"No. Our Queen isch the one in charge of our Nescht, so I gather that it isch to her that you muscht schpeak?"

"Indeed," Dooku murmured, watching the captain cagily.

"If that isch scho, then you will have to wait. Our Queen isch buschy."

"How long would we have to wait?" Allyaah asked gently, placing a hand on Serenn's arm; /Calm down/ she insisted.

/Something's wrong/ he returned.

/Please, Serenn…/

The multi-coloured creature's pincer's clicked together again, "Oh, not long," it returned, its tone hovering unnervingly between austerity and disdain.

"So what would you say? Several hours?" Allyaah pushed on.

The captain may have shrugged if he had the ability to, but, again, just clicked its pincers together before replying coarsely, "No more than a week."

"A week?!" Jinn gasped, before quickly slinging his hand over his mouth, realising he'd said that out loud – and loudly, too. The Colicoids near him just regarded him indifferently with their blank stares. Qui-Gon swallowed, cautiously watching them all.

"That's…fine," Allyaah wavered uncertainly, "Providing that you can give us somewhere to lodge for those few days."

"That will not be a problem," the captain replied passively. Serenn's gaze tightened on the creature once more, a shudder thundering through him and sever uneasy tingling at the end of his every synapse. He felt Allyaah's hand squeeze his arm gently, trying to keep him calm, feeling his disquiet.

The captain turned about, opening its large claws to the ornate palace-like building behind him, "Thisch way," it warbled.

Unsurely, all of the Jedi began to follow the captain into the structure, the group of Colicoids that had surrounded them now pacing behind.

***            *           *          ***

Qui-Gon was beginning to worry that they'd have to spend the night in a cleft in the wall; as they were led deep into this stone temple, they passed several levels of Colicoid dormitories, which were little more than holes and platforms in the walls. Fortunately, though, he soon discovered that he was wrong – it seemed that the Colicoids were well prepared for any guests of the needs of humans and species of the likes, and they had several chambers suited to accommodate them, catering for their diverse requirements. Serenn guessed that these chambers usually put up the business partners of the Colicoids, like Neimoidians, Rodians or even Dugs, but rarely any kind of Jedi.

Whatever this temple-like building was, it was huge – it seemed to reach miles back from its opening on the plateau. Allyaah theorised that it led right back into the Nest itself, guessing that the Queen would live here, in this palace somewhere, and therefore have easy access to her nests beyond whenever she wished to go to them. It was filled with various hallways and chambers, all ornately and smoothly carved out of the rock, more like the buildings the three knew so well than the rough-hewn civilian housing on the city's outskirts.

"Schleep here tonight, humansch…" the captain told them once he led them into a chamber in the fortress' lower barracks; he opened his plate-covered arm into a large and well furnished room, perfectly suited for their needs, though it of course had no windows, only torches burning on the walls again; "We can begin talksch tomorrow, and keep you occupied and comfortable until our Queen isch prepared to schee you…"

Serenn glanced about the inner sanctum, stepping in first and sizing it all up; there were three single beds, a couple of small units, and a quaint _en suite _to the side. "Can Miss. Jiao not have a separate bedroom?" he asked.

The Colicoid looked at him blankly, "Why?" it posed.

"She's female. We're not?" Serenn returned, gesturing between Qui-Gon and he, "Doesn't she deserve some privacy?"

"That isch a problem, why?" the captain continued, confounded.

"Serenn, their morals differ," Allyaah butted in, whispering briefly into his ear as she paced into the room by his side, before turning to the Colicoid and saying, "It's fine, thank you." She nodded graciously to the captain, who nodded in imitation to them in return, before urging Jinn into the room, closing the door, locking it, and rolling away down the outer corridor.

Serenn made several facial gestures toward it now it was gone, before turning to Allyaah as Jinn looked round the room, trying each bed out by bouncing on it until he found one that he liked.

Allyaah smiled at him, "You're a real gent," she said blithely, giving his chin a gentle knock with her fist, "But I'm sure I'll survive 'bunking with the boys'."

He sighed, shaking his head; "What are we gonna do until they let us out? Sing?"

"I've got dibs on the bathroom!" Jinn suddenly yelled, leaping off his chosen bed and rushing toward it.

"Qui-Gon, NO!!" Serenn cried, rushing after him; he just met the door, crashing hard into it, as his Padawan beat him into it.

Allyaah chuckled, sitting back on one of the other mattresses, "You can hold on for a bit longer, now, can't you, Master Jedi?"

TBC… 


	9. A Restless Night

**Author's Notes**: Sorry this took a lil while – I've been getting my other fanfic sorted, and they both take time as it is. Plus, I've had my websites to update, etc, etc… I wanted to add more to this chapter, but it kinda got long enough, so I've decided to put the rest in Chapter 10. Not much happens here, but it's still worthy of a chapter I guess, and things will start to get a bit darker soon.

**Seung Mina**: Thanks! I'll try and keep it up! ^_^

**Charmisjess: **Hi again! Glad you're liking the fic – I've tried to bring a light edge to it (with the darkness I'm currently writing in my other fic, I need to!) and I'm pleased that people feel that it's working. I like writing about Dooku & Qui – I can just see them as a right pair, and I just do my best to portray them as a strong team, though one that still has it's lil flaws. Allyaah's something of a balancing point between them, and she's one of my more successful original characters – I have to say, I don't make characters up very often in my stories! And I love your Dooku-Qui website, btw! ^_^ Keep up the great work!

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A Test of Faith 

Chapter 9 

It may have been the dead of night, or it may not have been – there was no way to tell – but all activity beyond the locked door of the Jedis' room seemed to have discontinued, giving the three the impression that it was night time. Though whether there was ever much activity down here in the Drykos 'palace' was a debatable thing. With little else to do other than sit round looking at one another, and with conversation seeming very hard to come by, Dooku had suggested that they all took some rest whilst they had the opportunity – 'one never knows when they might next get the chance to rest again' he had said, Jinn mouthing the frequently occurring adage of his mentor behind his back. So, with the room cloaked in darkness, the torches extinguished, and all Jedi allocated to a bed (Jinn adamant on having the far right one), the trio tried to rest under these most uncomfortable circumstances (not that the mattresses were that lumpy or ought, it was just that being locked in an underground cavern didn't leave one with very optimistic thoughts). Qui-Gon seemed to drift off to sleep quite swiftly, managing to shake the very foundations of the room with his loud snoring, his mouth agape and his lanky limbs all over the place, but Serenn was too uneasy to sleep; even though Jinn's snoring was abominably loud, he could usually shut that out and doze off in most cases – it was just that his senses couldn't rest and his mind was filled with disquiet.

Qui snorted, and rolled over, coiling himself up in his flimsy red blanket; Serenn glanced to him with a look of disbelief – how anyone could possibly make so much noise without waking themselves was beyond him.

"A noisy kid, isn't he?" Allyaah suddenly asked quietly from her bed, sitting up and shaking her head.

He turned, having ended up in the middle of the three beds, with Jinn to his right and Jiao to his left; "My dear, 'noisy' is a vast understatement," he replied deprecatingly, sat up and leant back against the wall behind him, his knees drawn up toward his chest.

"Is he like this every night?"

"Most nights…but I usually have a wall between him and me…" He looked fondly onto his Padawan again, chuckling gently to himself, "I shouldn't take that for granted."

Allyaah shook her head, smiling, "If I ever choose a Padawan, then I'll ask about their sleeping patterns beforehand."

"It's no use," Dooku replied casually, turning his eyes back to her, "He only started doing this last year – there were no problems in the first couple of years. You can never tell."

Jinn made another particularly loud snore before tossing over another time and further coiling himself in his scarlet duvet. The two Jedi turned back to him, giving him another stare of ultimate implausibility. 

"Can't you sleep?" Serenn asked Allyaah once the regular rhythm of Jinn's snores had ensued.

"No…and Qui isn't really helping me," she replied, smirking; "And you…?"

He scoffed, looking down and stretching out his legs, "Something's wrong," he said quietly, "Something's just…so wrong."

Allyaah pulled her poor excuse for a duvet off of her, and swung her legs over the edge of the bed, "What do you mean?" she asked, leaning toward him, leaning her head on her hands.

He stared down, as though trying to see through his mattress, running lazy circles on the top of the bed, "I don't know," he admitted, shaking his head slightly, "I can just sense something very _wrong_…like a shadow coming over me…" He smiled, incongruously snuffing at his own words, seeming bitter toward it all, "The Force keeps sending me warnings, hints…" He looked to her again, the whites of his intense eyes brilliant in the dull haze of the rock-strewn chamber, "I can't understand them but I know that it's trying to tell me something, trying to warn me about something…"

Allyaah sighed – what could she say to him exactly? "We're not going to get very far until their Queen emerges to talk to us," she ventured, returning to the obvious subject at hand, "I can't understand why she can't just gives us a few moments of her time immediately."

"Force knows what she's up to," Serenn groaned, looking up at the ceiling, unable to perceive it at all through the darkness, "It's all too weird – and too organised. They knew we were coming a long time before they pounced on us."

Jinn rolled over another time, "It's my Joba juice…" he muttered in his sleep, his hand flailing over the edge of the bed and hanging toward the floor.

Allyaah looked down, grinning at the boy's restless antics. Serenn sharply turned about to him, "One more sound, friend, and a pillow in your mouth," he said to the insensible form of his apprentice in a teasing warning.

"Let him be, Serenn," she said gently.

There was a slightly uptight pause between them.

"We shouldn't have come here," Serenn whispered, breaking the tense moment by making it only tenser, "I feel…'trapped'."

"We'll be okay," she reassured him for the umpteenth time, "We'll be okay."

***            *           *          ***

There was something about waking up to darkness that just wasn't right. Jinn opened his eyes, his body telling him that it was time to get up, whilst his visual senses were telling him, in contrast, that it was obviously still night time, so he should just go back to sleep. He grunted, his brow creasing for a moment until his thoughts caught up with him – of course it was still dark! He was underground!

"D'oh, Qui-Gon!" he muttered to himself, rebuking his own ineptitude. It was only then, as he rolled to his left and stared at the legs of his bedstead, that he realised he was on the floor.

"Oh, not again!" he sighed, before then going on to realise that, not only was he on the floor, but his legs were bound tightly in his duvet.

"Argh!" he groaned louder, "Not again!" He struggled in his self-made cocoon like a helpless worm, striving to free himself from the situation he'd somehow got himself into during the night, his blanket tightly twisted about his lanky legs. The thick darkness surrounding him didn't help matters.

"Argh!" he moaned impatiently, giving up his vain struggles and falling back flat onto the stone floor once more, lying still; "Master!!" he called.

There was a silence. Jinn exhaled steadily, counting the seconds impatiently whilst he waited to hear the scuffle of feet from somewhere over the room, in the bed next to his. Nothing happened. Was Master Dooku still asleep…? Well, not for long…

Jinn gathered his bound legs up and swung them at the closest leg of his bed to hand, making a mighty whacking noise as he did, "MASTER!" he yelled in tandem, before making a belated, "Ow…", kicking the bed-leg all of a sudden not seeming like such an ingenious move.

Finally, he heard the signs of movement from his position on the floor, there being a crumpling of bed sheets followed by the unmistakable sigh of his Master, which translated to something like, 'Oh, Qui-Gon Jinn, honestly! Not again!' The harsher the sigh, the more colourful the translation – his tutor was being civil this morning.

"Now, Master, if you don't mind!" Jinn urged his mentor, writhing on the floor helplessly, beginning to understand how those beetles felt that you rolled over onto their backs and laughed at when they couldn't get back up again…

Unhurriedly (purposely unhurriedly, Jinn was certain), Dooku gradually made his way round to the far side of his apprentice's bed, until he stood before him and stared down at him upon the floor. Jinn squinted, barely able to discern his Master's form through the inky blackness that occupied their chamber – he therefore wasn't sure whether he actually saw or just sensed the customary 'shake of the head' of his tutor as he looked down at him.

"I just don't understand you, Qui," he sighed, drawing out the moment and savouring every minute of it – some of this stuff would be invaluable for the necessary sessions of teasing that he occasionally felt it necessary to put his Padawan through (providing they did come out of this mission alive, that was…), "How can one boy make enough noise to cause a 7.2 earthquake, tie himself up so neatly that even he cannot set himself free again, and smoothly roll off his mattress and onto the floor, all whilst he's asleep?"

"I don't know, Master," Jinn replied in a feigned ignorance, "But how can one teacher be so cruel as to just sit back and enjoy the suffering of his poor apprentice?"

"Oh, I take no pleasure in the suffering of anyone, my dear boy," Serenn replied blithely, still seeming to make absolutely no move to help Qui-Gon out of his own little mess, "You know that."

"MASTER!" Qui whined, wriggling up and down like a grumpy child who has just been told that they can absolutely _not_ have a pet Nexu, and that's final. Sighing deliberately unsubtly, he went on to give Dooku his most determined pout, glaring hard to where he guessed his Master's visage was…his eyes just couldn't get accustomed to this level of gloom, so he couldn't be absolutely sure as to _exactly_ where he was looking.

"Where's Qui-Gon?" came Allyaah's groggy 'is it that time already?' tone from across the dull chamber, completely out of Jinn's sight. He turned his head in her direction, but found just the underneath of his bed and more darkness returning his stare. 

Serenn steadily turned to Allyaah, "On the floor, tied up," he replied with the utmost normality.

"What happened?" Jiao asked, her tone becoming more alert as though she had the preconception that someone had been in to tie Jinn up and leave him on the floor.

"A restless night," Dooku returned ever the more dryly, so dry, infact, that Qui-Gon had no doubts that, if his Master were a planet, he'd be covered in deserts and all those weird animals that stored water in strange places for special occasions…

A pause followed in which Jinn knew that Allyaah was now smirking, silently laughing to herself and finding it all quite amusing; "Okay, would some kind person help the unfortunate, helpless boy off the floor, please!" he appealed, beginning to get irritable, "I feel like I'm being asphyxiated by a very fat serpent…"

Dooku heaved his 'well, perhaps I ought to' sigh, and knelt down to aid his protégé; "Well, I'd better get you out of this fine predicament," he said, "I'd never live it down if my Padawan's life was ended by something that was 100% cotton and 0% sentient…"

Jinn pouted even fiercer at his mentor, "Shame on you, Master! What would Master Yoda think if he knew you were tormenting me so?"

"Well he would say to you, young Padawan, that 'Ironic it is that restless you are most at the time and in the place where most expected rest is. Standing up you will sleep tonight until learn to rest your body does'."

Qui snuffed, folding his arms as Serenn rolled him onto his side and began to pry the blanket from his back, "You're winding me up! Master Yoda would never be so cruel!" he rejoined certainly.

Serenn chuckled, "Oh yes he would, my young Padawan learner!" ('Stop calling me that…' Jinn groused silently – his Master always did it when he **a)** wanted to tease him, or **b)** felt that he needed reminding of what rank he was. He was sure there was a **c)**, too, but he couldn't think of it right now…) "I lost count of the number of nights I spent on my feet…" Serenn continued, "And even on my head at one time…"

Jinn thought it best to leave this subject before Dooku decided that it might be worth trying out the Yoda doctrine on him. He remained silent now until he was eventually wrought free from his reluctantly yielding, 100% cotton bindings. By then, Allyaah had a torch in the cavernous room lit, and beheld Qui with a certain joviality, both amazed and amused by his nocturnal behavioural patterns.

"Do you ever sleepwalk, Qui?" she asked him once they had all settled a bit and taken seats up back on their beds, their eyes becoming gradually re-accustomed to something other than absolute pitch blackness, "You seem to do almost everything else when you're snoozing."

Jinn shuddered whilst Serenn laughed sharply, before doing his best to conceal his mirth by putting a hand to his mouth. Jinn suddenly noticed that a patch of his cropped hair was sticking completely the wrong way, and began to try and tame it whilst he replied, "Yeah…ask Master Zteuq…she'll never forget to lock her apartment doors again…"

Allyaah frowned, glancing to Serenn; he just shook his head, an obvious grin half hidden beneath his hand.

"And _Master_ won't forget to lock _ours_, either," Jinn added, giving his mentor a meaningful glare.

Dooku gave him the most innocent of returning glances, "How was I supposed to know my apprentice had the capacity to operate certain doors in his sleep?"

"You should have foreseen it!"

"I bet Master Zteuq wished she had…"

Allyaah laughed, shaking her head at them again – it was impossible not to be amused by their two-man comedy act. Fortunately (or otherwise, depending on how one viewed it), the door to their room could suddenly be heard unlocking before it shot open. The three swiftly all darted their heads toward the door, staring at it as their 'captain' of yesterday trundled in; their faces fell sombre, their backs straightened and they became immediately vigilant.

"Morning, humansch…" it warbled, peering across each of them (Serenn had the urge to retort 'Morning insolent Crustacean', fed up of being seen as merely a faceless human and not as an individual being…), "Join usch for breakfascht, will you not?"

Dooku turned briefly to Allyaah with the 'May I answer?' look; she gave him the 'Definitely not' glare in return, knowing as well as he did that the Colicoid's offer was rhetoric. Jinn just continued to fiddle with his unruly hair, letting his Master and Allyaah do the conversing.

"Certainly," Dooku nodded in the end with as much civility as he could rally.

The creature nodded back, "You will be collected shortly…" it said, before it again closed and locked the door, before rolling away down the outer passage.

Serenn growled, flopping back onto his mattress, "Oh, joy! Breakfast with beetles!" he mused disdainfully.

"Can't be worse than the canteens back home…" Jinn muttered, beginning to get very annoyed with his disobedient hair, "GET DOWN!" he yelled at it, smacking it down hard and, subsequently, smacking his own head. "Ow…" he groused belatedly once more, rubbing his cranium, that not seeming to have been such a great idea now, either…

TBC… 


	10. A Savage Battle

**Author's Notes**: Okay, getting deeper into the story now! If it goes anything like my usual fics, then it'll be getting ever-darker soon! ^_^ But I want to keep a light-hearted edge on this story!

**Seung-Mina**: Heh – everyone needs a bit of silliness once in a while! ^_^

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A Test of Faith 

Chapter 10 

The three Jedi were escorted into a large banquet hall-type place. It seemed to be in the centre of this underground palace, and had many pillars lining its central isle, a large depression in the midpoint of the hall, which looked like a giant bowl, and, at the far end, one long, large, rock-strewn table (everything seemed to be rock-strewn round here), which faced out overlooking the large expanse of the hall before it. Sat at this table were a row of Colicoids, all who looked like the Captain Colicoid, each with different coloured markings painted onto its shell, or wearing diverse headdresses or necklaces; they were what Serenn presumed were the upper-class Colicoids, the ones in charge, and the dignitaries. Brimming round the edges of the hall, behind the row of pillars, and careful to keep clear of the central isle and the bowl-like depression in its centre, were thousands of very ordinary-looking Colicoids.

Dooku frowned as the Captain led them down the hall, his sharp eyes peering over all the tiny, beady glares that looked straight back at him from the shadows and crevices about, "Does your entire city usually congregate together for meals?" he asked the Captain warily, walking just ahead of Jiao and Jinn, who tailed behind him.

"No, human…" Captain replied hoarsely, "But today we have you asch our gueschts, and that isch a schpecial occaschion. The neschtsch are closche-knit communitiesch – we do much together when the time callsch for it."

"A 'special occasion'?" Dooku queried as they were led right up to the table, the room seeming miles long. It wasn't decorated at all, just had the odd burning torch and Colicoid carving on every other pillar. The vast amount of the ordinary, congregated populace were pretty much hidden in the gloom of the hall's perimeter, making it seem to the Jedi group that the social gap between workers and the nobility was very great.

"Yesch," the Captain nodded eventually in return to Serenn's query. Dooku would have appreciated a larger answer, but it would seem that he'd be expecting too much of the Captain to get that. Something still felt ever wrong about this whole scenario in the back of his mind…increasingly wrong.

"Is your Queen attending?" he continued.

"No…" Captain returned calmly, "Sche isch schtill…_buschy_…"

'Doing what?' almost slipped off the end of Dooku's tongue, but he held himself back – perhaps it was not a good idea to sound too nosy; he knew the Captain disliked him as it was. He had that effect on people – you knew whether or not you were going to get on with him the moment he stepped into a room. It had been like that with Syfo-Dias, the first day he'd come across him in the Jedi crèche…the impertinent little boy just immediately began taunting him, and, being the hot head he was, Serenn had fell for it, retaliated wildly, and the rivalry had grown and exploded out of proportion ever since…

He shook his head – this wasn't the time to reminisce. The Captain turned to the aristocrats who were already sat at the table, and began clicking and chirping to them in his own tongue. The gathered nobility seemed to look upon the Jedi with disgust – though their faces could show no expression, the aura about them was not welcoming. Jinn took this opportunity to gaze round the room, looking back over the far-reaching chamber behind him. The shadows by each wall brimmed with regular Colicoid citizens, their shells shining a dull bronze-brown and their eyes still firmly fixed on the humans gathered. They were all talking rapidly to one another (Jinn was certain that they were gossiping, actually), gesturing subtly toward the weird, alien forms of the homosapian species that were present in their city; something important must be happening, Jinn noted to himself, something that would call for a gathering of what looked like the entire population of the capital.

The Captain finally finished his conversation and turned back to the Jedi trio, opening his giant fore-claw toward the table and indicating several empty spaces at its end; "Take your scheats, humansch," it said to them plainly. There was no option.

"If he calls me 'human' one more time…" Serenn growled discreetly, before getting another elbow from Allyaah.

The three tentatively walked round and sat by the table on an uncomfortable and low bench. Serenn, in the end, after trying several different postures, opted to sit on his knees – the table before them was solid, so he had no where to put his gangly legs. Jinn decided to go for a cross-legged approach, which Allyaah also soon adopted. None of them were particularly comfortable, but it was best not to make a fuss, especially when your hosts, if they felt it necessary, could run you through with the slightest flick of their claws.

"Wonder what's on the menu?" Jinn pondered aloud, fortunate to be at the far end of the table, with only Allyaah to his right. Allyaah was sat with Serenn to her other side, who himself had the Captain by him, who managed to sit contentedly on the bench, two spindly legs infront and one behind it, with his small, rounded body resting at complete ease on the seat.

"Is something going on?" Serenn decided to ask the Captain, staring down the hall at the large depression in its centre, something that the gathered Colicoid citizens seemed most careful to avoid.

"Yesch…" Captain returned, as mystical as usual, "Breakfascht will follow schortly…"

"What in the meantime? Polite conversation?" Dooku retorted, before realising how foolishly curt he'd sounded; he waited for Allyaah's elbow, but it never came.

The Captain's mandibles vibrated, a gesture that Serenn gathered meant that the Colicoid in question was 'thinking of response to latter query'. It took it a moment to come up with a answer, and it finally replied, "There will be entertainment schoon…but talk if you scho wisch, _human_."

Ouch…Serenn felt the sting of 'human' this time. But he decided to try and keep his head on for once, having a feeling that Allyaah would elbow him so hard soon that she'd indent his ribcage and collapse his lungs…

"May I ask about that which I will later put to your Queen?" he queried genteelly.

Captain seemed to hesitate; "If you muscht…" he returned with an undeniably reluctant edge. But it was close enough for Serenn, and he decided to put himself on 'take everything literally' mode, and continued anyway; "We were sent here to trace two of our comrades, as I have already mentioned to you. They came to this city, and –"

"No Jedi have been here recently, human. None at all," Captain insisted inflexibly, not even turning to look at the Jedi Master, keeping his eyes fixed on the bowl-like impression at the room's centre.

"This _is_ Drykos?" Serenn asked matter-of-factly.

The Captain nodded slowly, as though he thought that Dooku may be slow on the uptake; "It isch."

"Then my comrades came here, _friend_," (it just dawned on Serenn that he didn't know the beetle's name – perhaps these creatures hadn't invented names yet) "They even reported their arrival. We know they were here."

The Captain shook his head as much as the curved, heavy shell that adorned his cranium allowed him too, "You are mischtaken," he persisted, "They muscht have gone elschewhere. One of the other neschts may have them."

Serenn swallowed his pride, beginning to get most annoyed with this oversized cockroach, "Then my comrades and I are wasting our time being here, aren't we?" he growled, giving the beetle his most intimidating stare.

Captain regarded him unsurely, seeming to be thinking that he'd said the wrong thing, "No…" it went on after an indecisive pause, "You are not. Our Queen should be able to help you."

For the first time, the notion that these Colicoids actually wanted to keep them here presented itself in Serenn's head – for some reason unknown, they didn't want them to go now that they had them in their grasps; "I hope so, _friend_," he went on, "Or we will go and try these…'other nests' for word about our associates."

The Captain didn't seem so alarmed by this, and just regarded the Jedi pitiably – if he'd been human, he may have laughed.

"I'm guessing that you do not get on with these 'other nests'?" Dooku asked.

The Captain made a horrific guttural noise which almost made Serenn jump – he took it as his form of a disgusted scoff; "Certainly not!" he growled aggressively, "We are at **War** with them, fool!!"

'Fool?' Serenn mouthed, his eyes burning – the elbow came quickly this time.

/Chill, Serenn/

/Allyaah, he called me a fool!/

/And you _are_! You've just insulted him with your ignorance!/

/You knew they were at war…?/

/No. But it must be a delicate subject. You've offended him/

/Oh, well _excuse_ me!/

"War?" he returned, his voice tense as he tried desperately to conceal the feeling of insult and ire that thundered within him.

"Yesch, war! Thisch planet isch not big enough for three neschtsch!"

"It isn't?" He wheezed, elbow returning; he couldn't be bothered with etiquette anymore…it didn't get them anywhere, in his opinion.

/For the Force's sake Allyaah! Won't a lil tap on the arm do?/

/You would never listen to a 'lil tap'…/

/So fracturing my ribs will do?/

"Certainly not!!" Captain replied Dooku once again; the other 'captains' down the table were now staring at the Master Jedi like he was an ill-mannered and ill-bred piece of filth; he could see them out of the corner of his eyes.

"We believe, asch holdersch of the capital city and asch the finescht manufacturersch of droidsch on the planet, that _we_ schould be the dominant and _only_ nescht!"

"Yes…" Serenn murmured, "And these other nests? Whereabouts are they…?"

"There isch the Schohtrop Nescht, which dominatesch the northern territoriesch of the planet; their droidsch are vaschtly inferior to oursch. And there isch the Schimara Nesct, a schparsche Colicoid Nescht, which populatesch small pocketsch all over the planet…they are a troubleschome group to monitor."

"Why would our Ambassadors go to them instead of here, where they were told?"

"They wouldn't. They would be abducted by them"

"But they never would be abducted by you?"

The Captain glared at him in the uptight, ensuing pause whilst several bowls of…'stuff' were delivered by some dull worker drones to the table. Meanwhile, in the centre of the room, two bulky Colicoids led two others toward the large bowl, initiating excited squeals from the Colicoids at the hall's edges.

Jinn looked at his 'stuff' with a wrinkled nose; he gave it a sniff, and stared at the oily rings accumulating on its surface. It looked like a very poor excuse for a bowl of soup.

Allyaah also looked at the bowl and swallowed in a discreet revulsion. There were no spoons or anything – Colicoids just lifted their bowls to their mouths and drank away, so there was no need for utensils. The Jedi were expected to do the same.

Serenn gave his bowl of 'stuff' a brief glance, before diverting his attention to the goings on in the room's centre; "What's this? The 'entertainment'?" he asked.

"Yesch," said the Captain, "You have arrived juscht in time to witnessch thisch great schpectacle – it doeschn't happen often."

"And what is that?" he enquired, not sure he wanted to know the answer.

The Captain's mandibles made a more excited version of their earlier vibration, "Two dronesch both want the honour of scherving the Queen in the Nescht'sch next egg laying schemeschter. It will be a great honour to achieve thisch position. The next batch of eggsch will be very schpecial."

"Oh, so these drones have to earn this 'honour'?"

"Indeed…" The Captain stared ahead at the two bulky Colicoids, who positioned each of these drones at either side of the large bowl. The crowds gathered around the room's edge began to chant, slamming their fore-claws against the floor in a kind of tribal beat, chanting along with the rhythm they made.

Jinn pushed his bowl of breakfast away, and looked up at the activities in the room's centre, "So what's going on?" he asked.

Allyaah shrugged, though had a bad feeling about it all, "I don't know," she replied.

Serenn's brow furrowed, his head beginning to pound again – he thought it may just be the raucous conduct of the Colicoid masses getting to him, but he knew it was more than that. He cringed, putting his hand to his head…

'_Don't let it be taken away from you_.'

He swallowed, shaking his head – he didn't understand.

Everyone's attention was now focused on the hall centre. Suddenly, the two burly Colicoids, who had led the other two drones in, the two who needed to earn their right to aid their Queen, raised their claws high into the air. The commotion, including all the chanting and beating, stopped. Serenn sighed, the brief silence giving his throbbing mind an ephemeral solace.

'_Don't let it be taken away from you'_

/What? What?/ he asked the mysterious voices, wishing they'd stop cacophonously resonating round his skull.

Qui-Gon glanced over the silenced crowds, swallowing, "I don't like this," he admitted.

Allyaah had to concur, "Me neither," she quietly replied, trying to work out what exactly was going to happen.

Then, swiftly, the two Colicoids in the room's centre dropped their claws before rapidly curling up and rolling backward from the bowl. The crowds cheered, beginning to pound the ground and chant again – the contest had begun.

"Tell me," Dooku asked the Captain, loudening his voice over the noise of the assembly, trying to ignore the throbbing warnings about 'life' and 'blood' in his mind, "What exactly do these two creatur-…er, I mean, _citizens_ have to do to earn their right to aid your Queen?"

"Kill the other," Captain said plainly, sipping from his bowl as the 'entertainment' ensued.

Dooku was stunned for a moment. He didn't like to be surprised, and he knew that this should definitely not have surprised him; this was a dog-eat-dog, so to speak, society – he should have known better.

The two contesting drones squealed, leapt up into their fighting formations and rolled down round the bowl like two unstoppably spinning tops, their bulky, armoured bodies travelling at incomprehensible speeds about the rim.

Jinn's mouth was agape – he'd seen 'simulated' fights before, but he'd never seen real ones, especially not ones that involved beetles of a six-to-seven foot height, aiming to kill one another.

The sound of the crowds drowned out almost everything – Serenn could hardly hear his head pounding, though he could sure feel it, the vibrations from the crowd's claws impacting against the floor every couple of seconds shaking the very foundations of the chamber, and therefore, him too.

/Serenn…?/ Allyaah suddenly asked him, her voice somehow managing to make itself heard through the clamour.

/I…don't feel too good/

/Hang in there/

/Like I have a choice…?/

Suddenly, there was an almighty 'clash'! The two drones smashed into one another at a terrifying speed. The Colicoids cheered as they saw a murky green-yellow blood spurt from cracks in the two fighter's inner shells, both injured from their first collision.

"That'll hurt in the morning…" Jinn murmured.

With the first blow over, the two now unfurled and began to circle one another, holding their sharp claws at the ready, globules of deadly poison oozing from the tips of their forked arm shells. One of the drones had hurt one of its legs, and was finding walking difficult, so the other took advantage of this, and swung its claws in low toward its enemy, knocking it speedily off its feet.

The victim squealed, before springing forward in a return assault, swinging both its large fore-claws in toward the other's head, aiming to crush it between them. The other dodged, drawing its head down toward its stomach, before rolling up again, and making another pass round the bowl. The other just watched, trying to steady itself on its injured legs.

'_Blood is the life'_

Dooku leant his head onto his hands, holding it tight, as though adding more pressure to it may ease the pain that it now throbbed with – why did this keep happening? And why to him?

The second drone spun from round the rim of the bowl, and slammed into the stationary Colicoid for a second time. The other squealed, clamping its spindly legs into the ground, attempting to take the brunt of the blow; it held the other in a tight, savage embrace, locking its large claws around its curved head shell. Slowly, the other lost speed, and found itself trapped in the second's clinch. It cried out, trying to pry itself free, but the other kept a tight hold on it, and had managed to disable the other's poisoned claws, to make matters worse for it, meaning that, for the moment, it could not use its most valuable weapons.

The crowds jeered and cried, some in favour and some not of the currently more successful Colicoid.

["That was a good move"] the Captain warbled to the Colicoid at his right in his own language.

["Can he keep it up, though?"] the other returned.

["We will soon see…"] he replied.

With an immense burst of strength, the restrained Colicoid managed to draw itself free, and swung its claws into the other's head. There was a squeal as the other's head shell was fractured by the attack, and it rapidly withdrew itself in response, rolling back along the bowl, but notably rolling askew, its senses having been knocked off.

The crowds roared in both excitement and outrage – victory looked imminent.

["What a shot!"] a purple-adorned Colicoid at the far left of the dignitary table guffawed, ["He'll win!"]

The uninjured Colicoid steadily tottered across the bowl to where the other eventually unfurled; the wounded one hung its head low, its legs still aching and discharging a gooey blood. It watched the proud one carefully, trying to figure out how it would finish it off.

The uninjured one raised its claw ready for a final blow, giving the other a savage gesture by twittering its mandibles harshly. That blew the other's fuse, and with a cry wrought from the depths of its soul (if it had one), in the face of certain death, it sprung into the air and swung its claws up violently toward its rival.

There was a short silence in which only a 'swish' was heard as the impaired Colicoid's claws moved, but moved so fast that they could not be seen. The crowds watched. The two combatants froze, both with claws held up, though the one that had been winning hadn't had time to strike.

Then, the injured Colicoid relaxed, and watched as the other one fell into two pieces – he had severed it straight through the stomach. Blood proceeded to fill the bowl.

The crowds cheered and crowed – the battle was over!

["Knew he would do it,"] Captain chuckled to his friend, nodding his thin, insectoid head at the other grimly.

Qui-Gon's mouth was wide open, and his face was pale. So was Allyaah's. And Serenn's might have been if he'd been able to pay attention to the fight, but he could barely bring his eyes to open, his head was now pulsating so badly.

"Oh Force…" Jinn sighed, feeling a little sick. He'd never seen anything like it.

"And just for the honour of helping the Queen?" Allyaah frowned, beginning to find this society rather hard to understand.

The winning Colicoid gradually stepped forward, and bowed before the table of dignitaries, glaring at the three humans for a brief moment.

["Congratulations!"] the central Colicoid dignitary said, rising to his feet; he was decorated in gold, blue and green, and had a large, red headdress upon his brow, ["You have earned the honour, through the use of power, wit and skill, of aiding our Queen!"]

The entire throng of Colicoids bowed at the mention of the Queen, becoming respectfully quiet as their monarch was mentioned.

["Thank you, excellency,"] the victor hissed in reply. 

Jinn swallowed as he beheld the champion's head, still oozing with blood, as was its leg. He guessed that Colicoids were a little hardier than humans, certain that its cuts and abrasions would heal quite quickly, for it didn't seem too badly damaged by it all, despite the intensity of the battle, and pain didn't even seem to be a factor.

The Captain now rose; Serenn managed to lift his head, a great feeling of dread now rising in his stomach. He gave Allyaah a knowing look; she looked back at him quizzically, not getting the same feeling that he had, though was nevertheless concerned.

["And now for your first task, if you feel fit,"] the Captain said.

["I am always ready to serve the Queen!"] it said, regardless of its wounds; the crowds knocked their claws together in support, glad that their champion had such a loyal and devoted disposition. It was expected.

The Captain pointed to the slightly dizzy Jedi next to him, ["Take him to her Highness!"] he ordered.

Serenn swallowed, staring at the claw that now faced him – for some reason, he didn't like the look of this.

TBC… 


	11. The Team is Torn

**Author's Notes**: This chapter perhaps should have been longer, but I just wanted to get it done. Apologies for being away for so long – I've been a bit blue as of late and haven't been in the mood for writing anything, but I've got my rear in gear again, and am doing my best to get back on top of things! Thanks for your continuing support!

**Seung Mina:** Dirty? Or just vicious? ^_^ what can I say – it's my nature.

**Layren:** Sorry to have to keep you waiting for so long! And I'm glad that you're enjoying the fic! ^_^ Thank you for your comments!

**Merrymoll:** Ah, overload, part of the etiquette of Fanfic.Net. ^_^ But we'd complain if it wasn't here at all, right? There're less laughs but more action for the time being, now.

**---------------------------------------------------------------------**

A Test of Faith 

Chapter 11 

Serenn blinked at the claw that pointed toward him – it carried a most unwelcoming aura about it for some reason. The hall was completely silent again, and when Serenn swallowed, he was certain he could hear it echo from off the cavernous walls about him. Allyaah and Qui looked between Dooku and Captain with a numb uncertainty, complete at a loss as to what to do (when the odds are three-to-three thousand, indecision can often take a hold of you). Infact, it wasn't only Jiao and Jinn who had their eyes pinned upon Serenn – the entire hall seemed to be beholding him, like some kind of lab experiment, waiting for him to blow…

"What?" he finally managed to ask, his head continuing to pound.

Captain, in one frighteningly swift movement, hauled Serenn up by his robes, hooking it about the twin barbs at the tip of his fore claw plate, before slinging him over the table. Dooku yelled as he soared through the air and smashed, with tremendous force into the unyielding, solid stone floor, skidding to a halt at the victorious drone's tripod of legs. He grunted, looking at the floor with hatred toward its lack of conciliation, his headache intensifying, before it finally and fully sunk in that someone had actually thrown him – yes, _him_ – across a table!

Growling, he launched himself to his feet and pounced backward away from the drone, his agility belying his gangly stature. "What is this?" he yelled.

Allyaah and Qui-Gon had by now leapt from their seats, arms held about them warily, the natural deliberations of 'fight or flight' buzzing through their minds; 'flight' really wanted to take hold, with the overly blatant fact that they were faced by thousands of stupidly loyal Colicoids hammering them unremittingly in the mind, but 'Fight' was putting up an admirable opposition – when push came to shove, however, there was really no alternative. Fight was the only option.

The drone stepped toward Dooku, claws held up.

["Do not kill him!"] Captain squealed, ["He mustn't die!"]

"Someone please tell me what on _Coruscant_ is going on!" Serenn bellowed, drawing his lightsabre hilt from his belt and switching the blade into action. The green glow of his weapon lit up his face and body, and the drone that had been approaching him seemed momentarily startled, hesitating in its pursuit. Its tiny, black eyes watched the strange weapon warily, mesmerised by its majesty.

["He must not be killed!"] the Captain repeated sternly.

Allyaah looked about, noticing that the entire throng of Colicoids assembled in the hall seemed to be edging toward them _en masse_; it seemed that Dooku was valuable to them, and that they were to act as one in order to prevent his escape, or worse, his death. She swallowed – she didn't know what to do.

"What's happening?" Jinn cried as the entire hall seemed to close in with the steadily advancing coleopteran creatures.

Allyaah couldn't reply – she edged back, taking Jinn with her by the shoulder, her free hand hovering over her sabre hilt. The beetles didn't seemed to be paying her and the Padawan much attention now – they were all converging on Serenn, though keeping their distance as the green laser-sword burned brightly, and potentially fatally, toward them all.

"Allyaah, what's going on?" Qui-Gon continued, his voice breaking in desperation; his eyes were fixed on his mentor as the sea of shells closed round him like a pack of ravenous Nexu; "We've gotta help him!" He tried to break forward, but Jiao tugged him back; "That won't help, Qui," she warned him, "You know how dangerous these creatures are…"

Qui grasped his lightsabre hilt and activated his own green blade, "I'm dangerous, too," he growled angrily. There were squeals from the Colicoids near the Padawan and startled jumps as the advancing beasts realised that the boy, too, had a mysterious humming, glowing weapon.

Allyaah would have stopped him from drawing his weapon if she'd had time, but, either way, she was at a loss as to what to do about the circumstances. She shook her head, trying to calculate how to get to Serenn with the least amount of hassle and slaughter – but there didn't seem to be a way of doing this _without_ both hassle and slaughter.

"We can't just stand here!" Jinn continued urgently; Allyaah met his wide, desperate gaze, and saw the hope and urgency within his eyes, saw how he was looking up to her to do some thing to save the man who had raised and trained him these past few years, the man he'd have no qualms about calling 'father'.

Her resolve hardened – sometimes, there was no choice. And attack was the best form of defence. She drew her crystal-blue sabre into her hands, and activated the blade, standing _en garde_ beside Qui-Gon. More Colicoids now reared back from the two not-so-important Jedi, and began to form a circle about them, both mesmerised and intimidated by their weapons.

Meanwhile, Serenn swung his sabre about him in a circle, trying to ignore his aching head, trying to focus his blurring sight; the Force had been trying to warn him about something, trying to tell him about something…it involved blood and life, and he didn't like the sound of it at all, but he had a feeling that, whatever he had been warned against, was now approaching him at a head-on run.

Then suddenly, the entire hall froze – there was an almighty squawk from the rafters above ('They carved _rafters_ into their ceiling…?' Qui-Gon pondered briefly), and everyone looked up simultaneously; Captain seemed to draw back in dismay and elicited his form of an angry sigh. Hundreds of Colicoids now descended from the roof above, their hue completely different to that of the present Colicoids, being bright green and yellow, their forms also seeming more streamlined. Chaos took control of the scene as the ambush took place, and everywhere, virtually all that could be seen was brown Colicoids fighting yellow-green Colicoids!

["The Simara Nest!"] all the dignitaries, that had been perched at the table, seemed to scream in tandem in various pitches and styles, ["Get them! **Kill** them!!"] And the masses obeyed like clockwork.

Serenn was baffled. As the crowd that had closed in on him dissipated to fight their green-hued kin, he was again left, within the centre of the gigantic commotion, to fight the drone that had been ordered to take him in the first place. He feinted a jab toward the drone – with lightning-quick reflexes, it managed to leap back with daunting speed and agility, despite its injuries from its recent brawl. Dooku swallowed – Colicoids were indeed hardier in body than humans.

Allyaah and Qui-Gon were trying to keep out of the way of the rolling and fighting Colicoids that surrounded them – they had unwittingly sliced several in two after the mêlée and taken hold, many coming too close for comfort and ending up on their blades' ends. Seeing so many Colicoids locked in vicious combat was unnerving to say the least, and many of them possessed a towering amount of strength when compared with their Jedi visitors, plus had a great vertical advantage, reaching a good seven feet tall in height.

Even though the two were armed with their lightsabres and attention had been diverted from them in the affray, Allyaah and Qui-Gon now had more chance of being run over by a rolling beetle than they had of dying on the end of one of their claws.

"This is embarrassing…" Jinn murmured, it coming natural to him to try and lighten the moment, "We get all wound up and ready to fight, then some 'gang' takes all the shine away, and we get ignored completely…" Qui-Gon followed his speech with an automatic sidestep, just in time to let a Colicoid whiz through the space he had just occupied. He stepped back into it once it had passed, shaking his head, "Typical," he added.

"Well, shall we save your Master, or what?" Allyaah inquired, calmly ducking to let a Colicoid (or part of one) fly overhead.

"Let's go!" Qui-Gon yelled, swinging his sabre before him and making a path in the direction he'd last seen his tutor in.

Captain's eyes hardened as he glared at the figure of Dooku, watching the tall Jedi continue to keep the advancing drone at bay; ["He must not _die_,"] he murmured to the crested dignitary, who cowered behind him, slightly to his right, ["He must _live_."]

["Then bring him in quickly, or the Simarans will take him!"] the pusillanimous dignitary returned.

Captain swung to look at him, ["You think they suspect?"]

["Their spy networks are advanced…"]

Captain paused for thought, ["Then we shall put him…'to sleep'…"] he concluded. He gestured to another Colicoid, who rolled off quickly in another direction, out through the rumpus.

Colicoid squeals echoed all round the hall, but Captain knew as well as any that the Simara Nest didn't just send their Colicoids into unfriendly territory without meaning; the Colicoids from the Simara Nest were fighting as a distraction for something else, and Captain theorised that the three Jedi were somehow involved in this 'mission'.

Swiftly, the Colicoid he'd sent off on an errand came back, sporting some fancy-looking pipe in his dexterous claws. Captain merely nodded toward Dooku, squealing at the drone, who was still vainly trying to get closer to the Jedi, to back off for a moment; the Colicoid raised the pipe.

One Simara Colicoid tried to finally take control of the situation and get his objectives sorted; he landed on the dignitary table after leaping tremendously from the ground, and yelled to his comrades, ["The humans! Get the humans!"]

Before Allyaah or Qui-Gon could quite reach Serenn, both trying desperately to push through the crowds, they were rapidly swept off their feet by a pair of speedy Simarans, who gathered them up in their claws, deactivated their sabres and took the metallic hilts up in their jaws.

"Master!" Jinn only had time to cry as he writhed in the beetle's grasp, "MASTER!!" 

Then, in a mere matter of seconds, the two ambushing Colicoids rolled up, clutching the two humans into their shells with them, and spun away.

It was the distraction Captain had wanted. Dooku turned in dismay and anguish as he watched his fellow comrades carted off like luggage; "Qui-Gon!!" he yelled, trying to respond to his Padawan's call, but his voice, however thundering it was, could not be heard as the chaos about him drowned it out.

With his back turned, it was only a matter of seconds before his senses told him that he was too late. There was a whisking noise behind him, like that a traditional arrow would make having been released from a bow, and he felt a sharp jab in the back of his neck. He cringed, barking out in pain. It wasn't long before the world spun, and he fell into darkness.

TBC… 


	12. The Plot Uncovered

**Author's Notes**: After listening to Track 13 (Fields of the Pelennor) and all of the following tracks on the _Return of the King_ soundtrack, I've envisioned the whole of my ToF story from now until a certain critical point just before the end - how cool is that? Music nearly always is my best inspiration… Hope you enjoy! 

It shouldn't take me too long to finish - it's not going to be an epic tale like the _Green Stone Trilogy_ or anything…

**Layren:** Never has the saying '_Better late than never'_ been more stretched, right? ^_~ Heh. Sorry for the whopping great delay, but I am aiming to have a ToF writing marathon and get it all finished within the next few days. Seriously… don't laugh!

**Seung Mina6:** Qui should be fine – you'll just have to keep reading to find out!

**Charmisjess:** Sorry for leaving everything on a bad cliffie, **then** making you wait 3 months to read the next part! Bad Jurious, indeed… ^_~

_*This is for **Charmisjess**, **Layren** & **Sarah the Pokeprincess**, who have all either egged me on or inspired me in one way or another. Thanks friends!*_

**---------------------------------------------------------------------**

**A Test of Faith**

**Chapter 12 - The Plot Uncovered**

/Serenn/

"…"

/Wake up, Serenn/

"…"

["I hope you didn't overdose it… we can't afford to lose this one…"]

"Wha -?"

/Get up, Serenn/

["We did not - I think it has a strong constitution, anyway…"]

["It'd better have…"]

Limbs aching, head feeling as though it were filled with molten lead, Serenn pushed himself onto his feet, finding that he was flat out on the ground. He squinted into the gloom, trying to get his swimming vision to tread water for a while. There was some kind of large bulk in front of him, and he was certain that he could discern the form of Captain by its side, too; he frowned - now what? He knew that he was at least alive… or he thought that he was, anyway…

"Well, if this is the afterlife, it sure is ugly," he murmured to himself.

["Ahh!"] the bulk exclaimed, shuffling toward him, ["It has awoken!]" The bulk seemed simply to be some kind of large, rounded mass with giant fore-claws and a miniscule head, and, as it came into focus, Serenn's eyes widened, and his mouth gaped…

*** * * ***

As soon as the rolling stopped, Jinn was thrown from out of the Colicoid's shell and across a rough, stony floor. Then he threw up; he'd never felt so sick in all of his life! 

Allyaah was thrown down next to him, but seemed almost unaffected by the recent spin cycle; she looked at Qui-Gon's green face with a flinch; "Ooh… are you all right?" she asked.

"Nuh…" he muttered, putting his head between his knees. Allyaah smiled compassionately, shuffling to the boy's side and gently rubbing his back. Whilst she did this, she took the opportunity to look about herself - all the yellow-esque Colicoids were stood round them, giving them uncertain stares.

After a moment, one of the Colicoids stepped out of the throng and trotted toward the two Jedi; ["We missed one - the tall one."] it said, looking back to its colleagues as it spoke.

["They want that one the most…"] another replied, before it gestured its claw toward the pair, ["These two must be of lesser value than the tall one."] The crowd looked again at the humans, Qui-Gon's pathetic state seeming to all but confirm the latter Colicoid's claim.

The first speaker snuffed and approached the Jedi on its tripod of legs; "The other Jedi isch more powerful, no?" she suddenly asked them in Basic, her voice emerging like something of a rough squawk from her coleopteran mouth. 

"More powerful?" Allyaah murmured, keeping a protective hand on Jinn - she peered round their group of abductors cautiously, "Serenn?"

"It hasch a name, then?"

"We all do," she frowned.

The Colicoid seemed to shrug, though it was hard to tell with it having such a complex body structure, "Scho, it -"

"_He_," Allyaah insisted.

The Colicoid struggled with this, "Scho h-… _'he'_ isch the moscht powerful of you three?"

Jinn groaned again, clutching his stomach tightly.

"Yes," Allyaah nodded tensely, throwing Qui a sideway glance.

The Colicoid thought about this; "It… '_he' _will be uscheful to them, then. Or scho they hope."

"What do you mean 'them'? What's happening? What's going on?" she demanded.

"If you will calm yourschelf," the leading Colicoid continued, kneeling before the two Jedi, "Then I schall explain…"

Allyaah looked completely confused, but felt that she had few options, "Go ahead…" she nodded quietly.

*** * * ***

The 'bulk' turned out to be a huge, overblown Colicoid - it had a massive, flaccid body, hinged onto a small, shelled and articulated torso, sporting two giant fore-claws - which looked something like scythes - and a tiny little head, gleaming with a pair of dark, black eyes. It was the Sohta Nest's Queen.

Dooku scrambled onto his feet, but his eyesight quickly blurred and his lanky legs turned to jelly beneath him; he soon stumbled over backward onto his posterior again. 

The giant queen snorted, and Captain trotted meekly to her side; ["This is _it_?"] she snarled.

["It is still dazed… the poison still runs through its veins,"] Captain explained.

Serenn's brow furrowed and he put a hand to his head, his memory slowly filtering back to him.

["When will his blood be clean?"] the Queen continued.

Serenn stared about the cavernous hall, trying to get his vision to clear and focus on something.

["Soon… not more than a few hours, I am certain…"] Captain returned.

Serenn stretched his hand out before him, counting his own fingers, narrowing and widening his gaze in tandem as he continued with his efforts.

["Excellent,"] the Queen sneered. She turned to Dooku again and placed her two huge claws in the ground before him, "Welcome, Jedi - welcome to my nescht. My children are looking forward to your _aide_…"

Serenn frowned, "Oh, Force…" he whispered.

*** * * ***

"I schuschpect that you know little of our planet and how it worksch - it will help if I schtart there…" the female Colicoid began as she held Allyaah and queasy Qui-Gon's attention; "The planet Colla IV isch populated by three neschtsch of our kind - the Schimara Nest, the Schohta and the Schohtrop. The Schohta inhabit the central regionsch of our planet, eschpecially around the city of Drykosch; the Schohtrop, more ischolationischt, prefer the far northern regionsch, deschertsch of schnow and ice. We, the Schimara Nescht, move our baschesch often and are of a nomadic vein - we prefer woodland to rock and deschert, but schtay on the move, and monitor our rival neschtsch closchely. We all schpy on each other and schtruggle for power. You Republicansch recognische Drykosch as our capital, yet that isch only scho becausche the Schohta nescht dominatesch our planet currently. "

She paced around Qui and Allyaah before continuing, "In our - and I refer to my schpeciesch in general when I schay 'our' - quescht for domination of the planet, many warsch have been fought. The Schimara Nescht pridesch itschelf on only defending themschelvesch and never schtarting any of our planet'sch conflictsch, but we must alwaysch be wary of our rivalsch and watch them - we muscht be prepared to protect ourschelvesch at all timesch and at all coschtsch. The main body of the conflictsch revolvesch around the territory-conschious Schohta and Schohtrop neschtsch. The Schohta is becoming increaschingly more powerful, and in an aweschome act of villainy, both neschtsch now aim to breed the bescht grubsch to become their scholdiersch. It isch for this reaschon that they, the Schohta Nescht, has drawn you in and taken the moscht powerful of your group - this 'Scherenn' - captive."

Allyaah listened and tried to balance the story, tried to use her instincts to tell her whether this tale was full of bias or close to the truth.

"You schee, once thisch war isch won, and one Nescht dominatesch the planet," the female leader added finally, "Then they, the victorious nescht, will hold power and wealth, for, if there isch only one nescht, there will only be one droid manufacturing franchische that the Republic, or any other military parties, can barter with…"

"So this is all about wealth?" Allyaah queried.

The female nodded, "Yesch, in the view of today - but it isch schimply a way of life between neschtsch that have been rivalsch for countlessch yearsch. You are in a different world here, humansch… a different schociety."

"So what exactly does this 'Sohta nest' want with Serenn? Why have they drawn us here?"

"They - or rather 'we' asch a whole - have never drawn you Jedi here on purposche, except for now… Due to the fact that Schohta controlsch our capital, all of your ambasschadorsch end up there, and the Schohta nescht dealsch with them how they alwaysch have - through execution. It givesch our schpeciesch a bad name… Do not mischunderschtand me, we all do not like intrudersch - we like to be left alone and to live our livesch how we pleasche - but killing isch not my nescht'sch notion of good foreign policy. It isch becausche of the Schohta nescht that your schociety brandsch usch with schuch a schavage reputation."

"You're not getting to the point," Allyaah interrupted, "You're selling me a sympathy vote for your nest, something I understand, but do not want. Please tell me about my friend."

"I would not keep your hopesch up for it… "

"For _him_!"

"Why isch gender scho important to you?"

"Just because you all reproduce through one queen, and treat everyone else under that monarch as genderless, doesn't mean that we do!"

"Reschpect my culture and I will reschpect yoursch."

"I **do **respect it."

The female snuffed then continued, "_He _isch in danger. _He _will live, but for little long…"

"What?" Jinn suddenly cried, face pale.

"What do you mean?" Jiao pressed on, trying to get to the matter's heart.

"I told you of our neschtsch' rivalriesch - in their scholdiersch, their schuccesschion of domination liesch. The Schohta nescht hasch experienced a reduction in the quality of their brood asch of late, thisch much we know, and they schearch for a way to improve their schtock. They have been constchructing machinesch of vascht technology far beyond that of my own tribe - they are expertsch in thisch field, asch are the Schohtrop nescht - and my schpiesch tell me that thesche devicesch are of a moscht unscheemly nature…"

"Yes…?" Allyaah pushed on again; she was usually a model of calmness, but she just didn't have the patience today - her friend was in danger.

"They want to genetically engineer a new generation of warriorsch - they want to usche your friend'sch blood to enhance their schtock, to give them an affinity to the Force, and an unworldly advantage over any warrior the Schohtrop, or my own nescht, can throw againscht them…"

"Blood?" Jinn gasped.

"Genetically engineer?" Allyaah followed up.

The female Colicoid nodded once more, "I inschischt that you do not go after '_him'_. We have schecured your schip up on the schurface with our scoutsch and can guarantee you schafe passchage back to it… Get out of here before the Schohta Nescht realische we have you and come to kill you. You know too much already for their liking…"

Allyaah shook her head, "No, we go with Serenn or we don't go at all."

Jinn concurred, "Yeah - we stick together."

"Pleasche, I muscht make thisch plain to you - great danger will befall you all if you schtay…"

"No," the two chorused.

"My Queen will not appreciate your tenacity…"

"And our people will not appreciate losing _more_ Jedi into this mysterious 'black hole' of a planet - we need to go home and explain exactly what's going on here. If we go back, then we'll make sure no intruders trouble you from our midst again - wouldn't that be better for you?" Allyaah continued.

The team leader sighed, "Yesch… Which isch why I inschischt you leave _now_!"

"Look, my Master is like a father to me, and I would **not** leave my father behind!" Jinn snapped, pointing at the Colicoid sharply, "Don't tell me to go home without him, because I point-blank refuse." He sat down on the floor, folding his arms and pouting angrily at the group; "I will not move from this spot until you agree to let us go back for my teacher." He then began humming irritatingly just to push things along, as well…

"What isch it… '_he'_ doing?" the leading beetle croaked, raising her huge fore-claws to the side of her small head.

"Humming, it would seem…" Allyaah replied.

"It schoundsch terrible!"

Jinn threw the female coleopteran a frown, rather insulted.

"He's as resolute as I," Jiao explained, "Let us go back for our friend. You can't stop us. We thank you wholeheartedly for your help, but we have to do this… it's in our nature."

The Colicoid grumbled to itself and turned to her comrades, explaining the situation in her own tongue to those less fortunate than herself, who didn't understand the Basic language. They quickly chattered and warbled to one another, gesturing about with their large claws in an animated way.

Allyaah meanwhile glanced down to Qui-Gon, who just looked back confidently, continuing to hum.

Finally, the conversation ceased and the group turned their attention back on the two Jedi again; "We underschtand, we think, your point, and we schubmit to your demandsch. But we do not wisch your quescht to be in vain - with my Queen'sch permisschion, we will asschischt you againscht the Schohta Nescht and enschure that you reschcue your friend… or, if the worscht comes to the worscht, otherwische…"

Jinn's face dropped, but Allyaah wafted her hand at him, asking him not to speak.

"Alscho, thisch isch on the condition that _'he'_ schtopsch 'humming'."

Qui shot to his feet, mouth sealed, "I'll be silent as a womp rat!" he said.

Allyaah angled her eyebrows toward him, "Have you ever _heard _a womp rat, Qui?"

"No."

"Well, I assure you, they're not that silent…"

"Oh…" Qui paused, thinking, "Well, just silent then."

**TBC…**


	13. The Plan

**A Test of Faith**

**Chapter 13 - The Plan**

Captain forced Dooku ahead into a compound, deep within the heart of the Sohta Nest. It's huge, metallic walls and high-tech appliances looked completely out of place in the termite-like environment, yet it was at this kind of technologically advanced trade that the Colicoids thrived and made their name in the galaxy, despite their isolationist nature…

"Move!" Captain growled, giving the tall Jedi a shove in the back.

Serenn nearly stumbled over his feet, the tranquillising solution still present in his body and causing him to become most unbalanced. But he heeded the Colicoid's wishes and stepped on across the doorway into the compound.

He was guided through a maze of hallways lined with ominous, blank doors; they were all a clinical white in colour, and after just a few minutes, he knew he was already lost, unable to remember from which way he had come. Plus, to make matters even better, the closer he found himself to the structure's heart, the more he felt a dark cloud dampen his Force-attuned mind - something was not right down here, not right at all…

Finally, his journey came to an end, and Captain opened a door that looked slightly different to the others, one with a symbol on it that Dooku couldn't interpret, though he guessed it meant enough to a trained, Colicoid eye.

He was given another push in the back, and he unsteadily stepped across the entryway, looking in horror at the chamber beyond; huge, ugly appliances littered the pallid walls, appliances hinged with various wires, tubes and long, sharp needles. Through a transparasteel window ahead, one that stretched the length of the room, lines and lines of eggs could be seen resting across the walls and floor of the cavern beyond - it was the nest of the Queen itself! The eggs themselves were also part of this huge, twisted machination, wired up and monitored by the consoles all about the room.

"Move!" Captain hissed again, urging Serenn across the chamber toward a wall to his left. And there Dooku saw the worst sight if them all - a pile of mutilated bodies on the floor, his fallen Jedi comrades, the ones whom he'd been sent to save…

He stopped in his tracks, arms held out to his sides, "You lied to me…" he growled.

"I had to lie to get you here, _human_…" Captain returned - if he had a proper mouth, Dooku was certain he'd be grinning now. He raised his claws up against the Jedi, protecting himself from any assault Serenn may choose to throw against him. "You schee, their blood waschn't schtrong enough…"

" _'Blood?'_" Dooku asked, suddenly reminded of the weird hallucinating messages he'd heard earlier, "All this for my blood…?"

"Yesch," Captain nodded, slowly stepping toward the Jedi and forcing him backward toward the left-hand wall, "You are a schtrong Jedi, and the one we've been hoping to draw here for a long time now. The Queen'sch brood will grow schtrong from you…"

He shook his head, "You're insane."

"That'sch what they all schay."

Captain shoved him backwards even more harshly than before, "Against the wall!" he ordered.

Serenn didn't really have a choice and smashed back into the wall anyway, grunting as he hit it; "The Force doesn't work that way," he protested, continuing with their dispute, believing that he knew what was going on now "Your efforts aren't working with any Jedi because the Force doesn't work how you think it does - life isn't all science and technology, like you believe!"

Captain ignored him for the most part, "Jedi have Midichloriansch, do they not? A high Midichlorian count of the blood isch analogousch to a creature having a schenschitivity to the Force. You cannot tell me it isch not genetic."

"It's not - it can be, but not always…"

"You make me laugh…"

"I'm glad I can amuse someone."

"Schut up!" 

Serenn did, for once, and glared at the tall beetle before him. It gestured to either side of it with its claws, "Raische your armsch," it ordered.

Dooku hesitated a moment before he slowly rose his arms out to either side of himself, mimicking the Colicoid and following its wishes.

Captain nodded, and attended to a machine to his right, "Have you ever heard of a device which - what'sch the word? - 'holdsch back' the Force…?"

Serenn blinked, "Represses it, you mean?" he murmured.

"Yesch! That'sch the word! Represschesch!" Captain nodded, "Well, have you?"

Suddenly, two metallic arms clamped down on both of Dooku's wrists, pinning him to the wall with large, metal bonds. He ground his teeth together, shaking his head as he tested the strength of the manacles and found them to be immovable, "No, I can't say I have…" he countered.

The Colicoid seemed to snigger, and tore Serenn's robes from his chest, turning to another device, this time on his left, as he continued to set up his operations, "Well, I hope you enjoy the experience…We can't have you playing about with thisch 'Force' whilscht you're in here."

For the first in a long time, Dooku felt truly scared and beheld the Captain with utter disbelief, unable to find a response to throw back at him; the Force couldn't be repressed, could it?

Captain took hold of a lever with his sharp claws and fixed his beady eyes on the Jedi Master before he hurled the lever down; Serenn felt a massive jolt run through the cuffs and across his body and he yelled out in agony. His mind immediately fell dark - the connection he'd always felt to the Force drained away in an instant and left him alone, feeling naked in the void. It was as if all the colour had been drained from his sight, and everything had become a dull monochrome. He breathed in ruggedly, panic taking hold… He couldn't feel the Force.

Captain chortled in his bizarre tone as he watched the Jedi rendered helpless, "And now we can have our way with you," he grimaced, and brought his tubes and needles into play…

*** * * ***

Qui-Gon and Allyaah both gasped at once and turned to look at each other.

"What was that?" Qui whispered, his mind unable to pinpoint the disturbance.

Allyaah shook her head, "I don't know… I just… can't feel Serenn anymore…"

Jinn paled in panic, "Oh no!" he gasped.

Jiao put a hand onto his arm, "It's not that kind of feeling, Qui… it's just like… well, if he was a blip on a radar screen, it's as though he just disappeared without reason… you get my point?"

Qui nodded, "I think so…"

They were stood outside the temporary base of the Simara Nest's Queen, a base that was surprisingly close to the Sohta Nest. It seemed that they had been spying on the Sohta Nest intensely as of late, and deemed themselves much safer the closer they were to them. Either reverse psychology or stupidity, Allyaah theorised…

They sat and waited patiently, the disturbance making Jinn, in particular, fidgety and impatient.

Eventually, the female Colicoid emerged from a tunnel ahead, and nodded to the two Jedi, "My Queen indeed findsch your obschtinacy irritating, and feelsch that you are, in a way, being moscht dischreschpectful."

Jinn kicked a stone about, sighing edgily.

"However," she continued, "Sche hasch agreed to schupport your causche and believesch that we all may be able to knock the Schohta Nest down scheveral pegsch through thisch effort. We need a victory of thisch type in our quescht againscht them and their engineering schcams…"

"Yes!" Qui shouted, leaping into the air, and punching it with his fist, "When do we start?"

"We need a plan, young Jedi," the Colicoid continued, "Before we take another schtep."

Jinn sighed, flopping down onto the floor, crossing his legs, "Awww…"

Allyaah nodded, "Don't run before you can walk," Allyaah reminded him.

"That's just what my Master says," he replied dully, head leant onto his hand.

**TBC…**


	14. The Rescue

**Author's Notes: **It's been a while… again. Sorry, but my head's been something skin to the Spaghetti Junction as of late, and I've had too much to think about, as well as "Harry Potter" distracting me (gotta love HP!). This story isn't the hardest of mine to write by a long shot, but it's just finding the time and the patience to sit down and do it. I offer my apologies, again, and hope to get this finished, along with "Eclipse", well before "Revenge of the Sith" rears its much anticipated head! My thanks for your support, and MTFBWY!

**SilverWolf47:** Thanks for reading more of my stuff! I'm trying to get both "Eclipse" and ToF on toward the finishing stages. I just need the time and patience.

**Seung Mina6: **Sorry about yet another long, long lull in the updates department. I'm really going to try and get this finished now!

**Layren:** Here's your birthday present! Two chapters of Qui-Dooku galore (well, more Qui, ATM, to be frank). Enjoy.

-------------

**A Test of Faith**

**Chapter 14 - The Rescue**

The Simara 'action squad', as Qui-Gon christened them, were divided into two factions - one that would accompany Allyaah and the other that would accompany Qui-Gon. The Simara espionage network knew the exact location of the plant where the Sohta Nest experimented on their grubs, and they were confident that Master Dooku would be held there. They had never attempted to infiltrate the base before, though…

Allyaah's troops were playing the part of diversion, whilst Jinn's were to infiltrate the base itself. Both roles carried great risk, and Jiao and Jinn were at least grateful for the fact that they were being aided by the Simara Colicoids, for they and they alone knew what the best routes would be to take into the core of the Sohta Nest, with the minimal chance of being caught…

Before they charged in, however, they were forced to rest by the Simarans, who insisted that they'd need all their strengths before the foray.

Jinn sighed as he lay back on a makeshift bed, in the hollow of a wall in a tunnel. Allyaah was by his side, her head facing toward the east whilst his pointed west; "This mission has been really strange," he said plainly, "I hope - considering we get out of here, that is - that the next mission I go on isn't like this."

Allyaah smiled, "Believe me, this isn't anything like the majority of assignments we're normally sent on."

"Good," Qui yawned - he was a bit tired, but he could hardly be expected to sleep when his Master was in danger.

"I want you to be careful once we leave tomorrow, Qui-Gon - the last thing I want is to come back with your Master, but not with you."

"And vice-versa," Jinn insisted, "We're all going to go back together."

Allyaah nodded, "Yes - together."

_            /Me, you and Qui-Gon, 'eh? It should be an experience/_

_                                    /__It will be an experience, if we get back alive/_

--------------------

The time came. Qui-Gon was raring to go, lightsabre by his side and belt tightened about his waist. His eyes were narrow as he meditated on the possibilities of the day ahead, his mind fuelled with determination and courage. It was time for him to prove himself to his Master.

Allyaah was equally prepared, though somewhat more sombre than Jinn, as though a shadow loomed over her mind that she couldn't cast aside. She placed her hand on the tip of her sabre hilt, by her hip, and stood by Jinn at the head of the expedition whilst they awaited the arrival of the remaining members of the company.

"Are you ready, Qui?" she asked.

Jinn nodded resolutely, "I've never been more ready in all my life."

She couldn't help but smile, "I admire you, young master Jinn," she said, "You'll make a fine Jedi Knight one day."

He gave her a charming smile, "Thank you, Master Jiao."

She put a hand on his shoulder and rubbed it affectionately.

"We will get through this, won't we, Allyaah?" Jinn suddenly asked, as though the thought had only just occurred to him.

She nodded, reticently, "Yes, Qui… we will."

**----------------------**

["I told you he was strong,"] Captain said.

There was an aristocratic Colicoid by Captain's side, complete with head crest and all, who was proving to be another one of the select few heading the twisted operations of the Sohta Nest. They were both stood observing Serenn, as he unwittingly became part of their contrivance.

["Yes,"] it concurred, viewing the Jedi as merely another part of the experiment, ["Do all these humans have red humours?"]

["Oh, yes… strange, isn't it?"]

["Inexplicable…"]

Serenn was still hung lifeless against the wall, two large needles now inserted into a vein on each arm, drawing blood from his body. Large pads were stuck upon his chest and temples, wired up to a console on his left, monitoring his heart and internal bodily activity, simply making sure that he was still - and would remain - very much alive…

["How much blood are you drawing out of him?"]

Captain shrugged, ["Two to four pints a time should be sufficient… We then must let his body replace what has been taken before we draw more from him again."]

["Sounds like a lengthy process…"]

["It could be."]

["And how long do you think his body will be able to keep this up before it gives in?"]

Captain again shrugged, ["We will see…"]

The two continued to chatter as they left the room, abandoning the pale Dooku to his lonely, dark thoughts, his mind still void of the Force that he'd relied on so much throughout his life...

**----------------**

"I recognise this place," Qui-Gon said as he shuffled from out of a tunnel onto a ledge overlooking a vast, cavernous chamber. The entire entourage was behind him, including Allyaah and all of their party. The female Colicoid rolled to the head of the group and shot up onto her tripod of legs by Jinn's side; "Yesch…" she said, "We have reached the heart of the Schohta Nest - Drykosch."

Allyaah brought up the rear, weaving through the masses of shells of their fellow Colicoids; she stared down into the familiar precipice of the Drykos outskirts, recognising the rocky walkway over which they'd first entered the city; "Now what?" she asked

Already, most of the other Colicoids had rolled back into their shells and moved on; "We muscht go further into the underground mazesch," Female replied, "We know of a channel that leadsch schtraight into the nucleusch of the Schohta Nescht'sch engineering complexesch. We muscht go there…"

Jinn looked to Allyaah, "Back into the darkness," he sighed. Allyaah nodded and they followed Female back into the subterranean tunnels.

"It must be like this living in the depths of Coruscant…" Qui quipped as they trod carefully through the lightless tunnels.

"I prefer it here, Qui…" Jiao said.

"Why?"

"There aren't any ladies of very negotiable affection down here…"[1]

Jinn just laughed.

-----------------

Back on Coruscant, the days flowed as normal. In the high council chambers, Syfo-Dias stood alone, looking out across the cityscape. He wondered how his rival, the 'esteemed' Master Dooku, was doing on his quest. And then he found that he did not really care.

**TBC****…**

* * *

[1] Phrase taken from the "Discworld" novels by T. Pratchett - it's just so to-the-point without being too blatant.


	15. Compassionate Master Jinn

**Author's Notes: **Edited 04/08/04 due to discovered plot hole!

-----

**A Test of Faith**

**Chapter 15 - Compassionate Master Jinn**

The Simara party reached the end of the last descending tunnel into Drykos before they stepped out into the open cavern of the city and stood in silence behind a rise in the ground, waiting for someone to make the first move. Allyaah shifted first and made for the front of the group; "This is it," she said quietly, looking over them all, "We split from here." She turned to Qui-Gon, "Who's leading Qui to the hold where Dooku is being held?"

Female looked over her group and began chattering in her own tongue. Another Colicoid stepped forward from, distinguishable by a strange, inverted-triangle mark on his 'forehead'. It was with no surprise, therefore, that Jinn immediately nicknamed him 'Triangle'.

"I schall lead the young one to the other Jedi," he gurgled in a startling deep, guttural voice.

Female seemed satisfied by this; "Excellent," she nodded, turning to Allyaah, "We schall eschcort you on the 'diverschion'."

At this, the party split into two, Female at the head of Allyaah's gang, Triangle at the head of Qui-Gon's. This left the two Jedi looking at one another awkwardly.

Allyaah shrugged off all her Jedi pretences and clasped Jinn to her in a friendly hug; "Please, take care, Qui," she whispered to him.

Jinn held her in return, suddenly realising how scared he felt inside, and of how dangerous this mission actually was, "You too, my master," he said.

She have him a light, parting kiss on top of his head, then let him go, and without further ado, they went on their ways.

-----

Scouts of the Sohta nest could hardly believe their beady little eyes as they saw a group of Simaran Colicoids, led by a human, walk brashly into their territory.

["What is this?"] one scout, hidden in the hollows of the crevices above, asked another nearby.

["I call it impudence,"] the other replied.

["Or foolishness,"] the first scout countered.

The Second clicked his mandibles together, ["Go, report to our leaders. They must want second helpings after their other raid recently."]

["Fools they are, then,"] Scout one snorted as he rolled up and rushed off down into the passageways of his nest.

----

Meanwhile, Jinn's party were moving stealthily over the ground toward the testing compounds where they were sure Dooku would be. They moved from behind rock to rock, skulking along the ground and being careful to make as little noise as possible. Jinn felt at a disadvantage here, being the only gangly, teenage human with stupidly large feet in the party, but he managed it, knowing that his master's very existence was on the cards, and he wouldn't let the cruelty of adolescence ruin it for him.

"There, ahead, can you schee it, Qui-Gon?" Triangle said to the boy, stooping behind a boulder and pointing in the direction of the compound with his armoured forearms.

Jinn crouched next to the creature and peeked above the stone; he indeed could just make out the top of the bland, grey compound, its windowless walls standing out against the rock like a snow wampa in the desert. His heart began to beat faster - this was it; if he failed now, he'd have to live the rest of his life with the loss of his mentor - a man as good as his father - on his conscience.

"Do not fret, young one," Triangle suddenly said as though he could sense what was on Jinn's mind, "We schall be here to help you."

"How can I get there without being stopped?"

"The diverschion involving your friend schould schoon be in place. I will give you the word when I am certain it is schafe, and then you schall run." Triangle looked at him, "And schould any othersch come to schtop you, we schall be here to schtop _them_."

Qui smiled at Triangle, "How can I ever thank you all?" He looked over each and every one of them in his group, "It is Allyaah and I who are the ones who decided to come back into this mess, and you come along, anyway, though you advised against it…"

Triangle might of smiled had he the ability, "You are a true credit to your race, young one. I am glad to have made your acquaintance," he warbled with a slight nod of his small head. He turned back toward the compound, "Now, get ready…"

Jinn nodded, hand tapping his lightsabre in reassurance, and he waited.

----

Allyaah and her party stood point blank in the middle of Drykos, and looked around them.

"Well, what a welcome," she murmured, hands clasped tightly about her sabre hilt as nothing but silence and emptiness greeted them.

"They are being cautious," Female deduced, looking at every dark nook and cranny surrounding them as though it were guilty of something, "Scho we will provoke them."

"Is that wise?" Allyaah interposed.

Female nodded, "Yesch. Do you want to be a diverschion or not?"

Allyaah shrugged, "Good point."

With a few clicks and squawks, Female ordered a few of her comrades out of the group. They rolled off and, without care or precision, began to attack the Drykos 'town hall'. Suddenly, screeches of rage and shock permeated the air around them, reverberating off of the cavernous walls, and the Sohto Colicoids shot from their hiding places and began to roll rapidly into battle against them.

Allyaah couldn't help but allow herself a smile, "Let's dance," she smirked as he blue lightsabre erupted from the hilt she held before her.

----

Triangle watched as several Sohta Colicoids, alerted by some person or other, rushed from out of the compound in the distance and toward the main body of Drykos. He nodded, muttering a few short commands to his friends, before he turned to Qui-Gon and said, "The diverschion isch in place." He watched a few more Colicoids roll off in the direction of the fracas. "Run… now!"

And Jinn did. He stumbled at first on the dusty floor, but soon was sprinting at full pelt across the ground, arms pumping  by his sides and eyes focused on the compound ahead. He heard a screech to his left as he made the half way point, but before he could even think about reaching for his lightsabre, Triangle appeared with a whoosh by his side and diverted the incoming attack from the hidden Sohta guard; "Keep going!" Triangle insisted whilst he took the Sohta soldier up in battle.

Jinn ran, his breath emerging as heavy, hoarse rasps from his throat. He was beginning to feel tired, and tried to call upon the Force for aid; it did help sustain him a little, but it felt so frail down here, anyway, that it didn't do a lot. Twice more he caught the glimpses of would-be ambushers preparing to waylay him from the shadows, but twice they were again intercepted by members of Triangle's party.

Soon, the compound was in sight. A wire-mesh perimeter fence surrounded it, but Jinn could see that posing little difficulty. As he skidded to a halt before it, he drew his 'sabre to his hand and sliced a large hole out of it, before he dived through and scampered on toward the main entrance.

He flattened against the wall as he reached the door, the Force managing to get a message to him that danger was approaching. And, indeed, two Colicoids came rushing out of the compound door, looking like little more than two, rolling blurs as they sped away. Jinn watched them pass warily, and, suddenly realising how lucky he was, jumped across the threshold of the compound as the doors remained open from the exiting Colicoids. Suddenly, as soon as he was inside, the doors behind him hissed shut and he was left alone in the clinical gloom of this terrible place.

He swallowed, looking around; he'd never been in a place filled with so much gloom and… death. The Force felt muffled, as though it was not welcome here, and all he could see ahead of him were rows and rows of identical, stunted doors intermingled with row after row of identical, clinical corridors. There was no sign of any life.

He swallowed again, "Now what?" he murmured, stepping forward to the first junction in the hallways and looking down the left and right corridors as he reached them, before then looking straight ahead down the central one.

"Use the Force, Qui," he said to himself, "Use the Force…"

He closed his eyes, instinctively turned right, then continued on his way.

----

Allyaah was having fun, despite herself; she hadn't actually killed anything yet - she refused to unless it was completely necessary, and in her own defence - but she was enjoying thwarting the Sohta Colicoids with her agility and skill. She often left them crumpled over one another on the floor, their tripod of legs twisted, or with their large, cumbersome shells caught on one-another's.

Her Simaran allies weren't being quite as discreet, of course, and had left several dead or injured already, but she didn't exactly have time to change the ethics of a society in-between rescuing her best friend, now.

She ran up a wall and loosened a low-hanging stalactite from above with the swish of her light sabre, leaving the Colicoid who had been following her flat on his back beneath the mass of rock as it crashed over him.

She then back flipped over another Colicoid, which went rolling beneath her as she was in midair, having being aiming to knock her from her feet. It went crashing into a stone pillar with an unpleasant squelch.

A few more Sohta Colicoids were now circling her, but cautiously - many of their comrades had been waylaid by her already, and they knew that she hadn't yet used her lightsabre properly on them yet…

----

Jinn found his feet were doing more thinking than he was. And he was quite happy to let them as he moved through the faceless corridors. He kept his eyes shut most of the time, abandoning himself to the Force, for the sheer malice of the bare walls and uncongenial halls unsettled him greatly to look at. It took him quite some time before he was sure that he felt the slight tingle of his master's presence - he wasn't quite certain, but it was better than nothing, and his pace soon quickened to a brisk walk. 

He reached a door - it looked little different to the others, bar the fact it had a strange symbol printed upon it - but it was screaming 'open me' to him. He looked at it, feeling the Force push him toward it, telling him that this was the way forward now. And, no sooner had that sensation hit, than did the Force also tell him to hide. He doubled back and slid round a corner to another passage, just in time to see two Colicoids - two of the higher ranks, if their absurd head crests were anything to go by - walk slowly out of the door and off down the corridor, fortunately, in the opposite direction in which he was hiding. As their chattering died away and they disappeared round a bend, Qui rushed back to the door.

His luck was against him this time - the door had closed before he could get there, and the control pad by its side looked suitable for the spindly fingers of a Colicoid only. He kicked the wall in frustration, before he regretted it as his toe made protest, then, calming a little, tried to think of the best way to go about getting through. It wouldn't be wise to wait for more Colicoids to come out - if there were anymore in there - and even less wise to think of following Colicoids _into _there. His thoughts turned to his only salvation, his lightsabre; this weapon was his life, or so he'd been lectured, and now 'his life' was going to help save another.

Pushing the hilt up against the door, he flicked the switch and, with an almighty hum, his green blade shot out and forced its way through the metal of the door. The sound it made as it melted and warped the metal was horrible, but nothing compared to the terrible smell it emitted. He guessed that there were no more Colicoids on the other side of the threshold for no one seemed to have heard, or smelt, his efforts to enter.

When he had finally managed to make a hole in the door big enough for him to just about squeeze through, he hooked his 'sabre back onto his belt, and did just that. As he fell to the floor on the other side, he found himself in a horrid room. But the needles and the mechanical arms about him didn't register, for he was too busy staring at the man hung from the wall…

"Master!" Qui-Gon cried.

**TBC…**


	16. Saving Serenn

**Author's Notes: **If you read chapter 15 before the 4th August, then it's been edited slightly since because I fell down a plot hole. Everything's been amended now. You don't really have to go back and read it if you already have – you'll only have noticed the hole if you have a good memory for detail.

Now, onto the next part… Not long to go now!

----------****

**A Test of Faith**

**Chapter 16 - Saving Serenn**

Serenn raised his head groggily as he heard Qui-Gon's call, his face - pale as it was - still able to brighten as the Padawan bounded over to him.

"Qui-Gon," he smiled, "It's about time."

" 'About time'," Jinn scoffed, moving quickly to the device that seemed to be extracting blood from his mentor's body, "Some grateful Jedi you are, Master…" His eyes glanced across the alien control panel, simply overwhelmed by the amount of buttons, switches and levers that were situated there.

"Just get me out of here, Qui," Dooku asked, closing his eyes and leaning his head back against the wall.

Jinn licked his lip and hesitated - he didn't have a clue where to start; "Er… Master," he dithered, continuing to study the control panel, "Can't you just 'use the Force'?" He crouched down and found yet more switches there, as well as a line of blood that had made its way across the floor from a pile of Jedi bodies in the corner…

"Argh!" Qui-Gon yelled, leaping up and backing into the wall by his Master's side.

Dooku gave his Padawan a moment before he said softly, "No, Qui-Gon, I can't use the Force. Something's preventing me… And I fear that these bindings are too strong, even for that."

Jinn swallowed, "Master," he stuttered, hardly able to find his voice, "They're dead…" He rose his hand shakily and pointed to the corner where the stationary bodies lay, "The Jedi we came to save… they're dead!"

"I know, Qui-Gon," Dooku sighed, "And there's nothing we can do for them now."

"But Master -" he went on, becoming quite hysterical, his voice coming in jumps and starts.

"Qui, I will be dead too if you delay much longer!" Serenn interrupted.

Qui-Gon swallowed again, taken back by his mentor's indifference; "Yes, Master," he murmured, "I -"

"I'm sorry, Qui, but we are too late. Try and understand."

But Qui-Gon couldn't understand. He had never seen death before, and it scared him, haunted him… It wasn't something he could see as his Master did right now. But it scared him more to think that, had any more time been wasted, Dooku's body might have been laid on top of them, his mouth hanging open, his eyes wide and empty, gazing into the void of death…

His eyes hardened in resolve and he gave the device linked up to his mentor a look of reckoning; but it didn't help; "Oh, Master!" he whinged, "What do I do?"

"Yes, Qui, I took the liberty of reading the instruction manual before I came here, just in case we ended up in such a situation, so I naturally can answer your question."

Qui-Gon placed his hands on his hips and glared back at him; "This is no time to go sarcastic on me, Master Serenn Mirozan Carandini Dooku!"

Dooku gave him The Look in return, but knew when he was beaten, and gestured for Jinn to approach him with a nod of his head; "Come here, Qui," he muttered.

Jinn did as was told and paced to his Master's side. He also set his eyes on the needles inserted beneath the skin of Dooku's arms for the first time, and regarded them warily, paling slightly at the sight of the scarlet blood seeping through the transparent conduits attached to them.

Serenn followed Jinn's line of sight and said quietly to the boy, "Don't go queasy on me, Qui."

Jinn looked hard into his tutor's gaze and said, "I won't, Master. Tell me what to do."

Serenn took a deep breath and gestured toward the right hand corner, "See the rest of my robes, over there?"

Jinn turned and nodded his assent.

"Fetch them quickly," Dooku continued.

Qui sprinted across the room, dodging the various arms and implements in his path, gathered up the pile of beige robes, and returned to his mentor's side.

"Right, now listen carefully," Serenn said, pausing for a minute to gather his strengths, "I need you to break two strips away from them - tear them if you must - just make sure you have two long strips worth of material handy."

Jinn untangled the pile and took the two strips, that usually came over the shoulders and tucked below the belt, away from the rest. He clutched them in both hands and looked again to his Master.

"Okay, my boy… I want you to take each of these needles" - He nodded to either arm - "Out of my body, one at a time, and, as soon as you have, tie one of those strips tightly around the wound. Do you understand?"

Qui-Gon vacillated, "But, Master… what if I mess up?"

" 'If'? What do you mean 'if'? We don't dwell on ifs, buts and maybes, Qui…" Serenn retorted, "Come on, you're a clever lad, and I would trust you with my life."

Jinn rose an eyebrow, "Erm… you _are_ trusting me with your life, aren't you?"

Serenn managed a smile, "Why, yes, so I am…"

Jinn took a step forward but again seemed to fill with hesitation, "You'll bleed, Master," he said, shaking his head before making eye contact, "I mean, you've lost enough blood already."

"And I'll just lose more if you leave me here, Qui…"

"But -"

"Qui-Gon Jinn, do it **now**!" he ordered, giving his Padawan a stern glare.

Qui shuddered at his mentor's rebuke, but it was what he'd needed to finally force his apprehensions aside and dive head first into the task. He went to Serenn's left arm and slowly drew the needle from his vein, letting it drop and dangle from its tube whilst he quickly tied the first band of material round his mentor's arm.

"Good boy," Dooku whispered as he watched Qui-Gon waste no time in repeating the procedure on the other arm.

Once both needles were out and astray, the console began to bleep, realising, somewhere in its mechanical brain, that something was amiss.

Jinn finished the job by tearing the round pads from his Master's chest and head and tossing them aside, before he eyed each of the metal binds that still held Dooku to the wall; he was pretty sure he wouldn't be able to just tear them off…

"Now, what?" he asked his mentor.

"Get Allyaah," Serenn replied.

"She's busy."

"Qui, unless you think your lightsabre skills are adept enough to cut me free from these binds, I suggest you find her…"

Jinn backed away, "Oh, I'm not risking taking your hands off as well…" he said wryly, "You'd be in trouble then!"

He swiftly turned about and rushed out of the hole in the door, hoping beyond hope that he could find his way out again and then find Allyaah. Serenn just grinned as he watched him go.

------

Allyaah's 'sabre flashed and whirred around her as she kept threatening the Colicoids with it, managing to keep them at a distance. Despite this, they continued to surround her, and though they kept their distance, were still too close for her liking.

"C'mon Qui, c'mon Serenn…" she muttered beneath her breath, suddenly taking a leg off a Colicoid that came too close. At this, the others began to hiss at her, rising up on their legs and holding their giant, armoured arms at the ready.

Then, she began to hear a voice; "Allyaah! Allyaah!" She glanced back over her shoulder and saw Jinn running toward her. She was part filled with relief, but part anxious to see him alone. He didn't looked grief stricken or ought, however…

Taking another wild swing at the Colicoids about her, she managed to force them apart for long enough to allow her to leap out of their enclosure and rush toward Qui-Gon; "Qui!" she exclaimed, "It's about time!"

Jinn shook his head, "What's with the 'about times' today?" he rejoined.

Allyaah looked bemused, so Jinn went on, "Master Dooku needs you. He's strapped up against a wall and needs cutting loose."

Allyaah blinked, "Just the norm, then," she said.

"Don't you go sarcastic on me, too!" Jinn pleaded.

Allyaah shook her head and, seeing that the Simaran and Sohta Colicoids were far too wrapped up in themselves to notice them leaving, took hold of Jinn's arm and rushed off with him back the way he'd come.

Well, at least she thought they wouldn't notice. But some of them certainly did.

["Go report to the Queen,"] one Sohta Colicoid chattered its comrade, ["She will not like this…"]

The ally swiftly coiled up into its wheel-like form and rolled off into the nest.

----

Allyaah felt dizzy after a while as she followed Jinn through hallway after hallway in the compound of the Sohta nest. He seemed to know where he was going, though it was beyond her as to how he knew - it just proved that he was indeed a gifted young Jedi.

"How much further?" she asked as Qui took another left corner, quickly followed by a right.

"Not far," he called back, pausing briefly at a junction, before seeming to remember to go straight ahead, "Not far, I promise you."

She believed him and just continued to follow, still clutching her lightsabre at the ready.

Finally, they read a door with a conspicuous hole in it.

Jinn stopped and nodded to it, "Through here," he said and dived in.

Allyaah blinked, looking at the hole with a little apprehension.

"Come on! You can fit through there!" Qui called from the other side, as though he read her mind.

She shrugged and went for it, slipping through it quite easily, and landing rather elegantly on the floor the other side.

"I think that landing deserves a 9. Qui stumbled on his, but was still very quick, so I awarded him a 7."

Allyaah looked up at Serenn on the wall whilst she heard Qui-Gon snigger. She smiled a little dryly, and said, "Thank you, Master Dooku," as she rose to her feet and brushed herself off.

She walked over to him, glancing around at the room, and soon set her own eyes on the dead Jedi, piled in the corner like unimportant trash; she swallowed and put a hand to her mouth; "Oh, Force…" she whispered, her face paling in turn.

"We're too late," Serenn murmured to her, "Let's get out of here…"

She turned away and, surprising Serenn, wrapped her arms about his neck, "Thank the Force you're all right!"

"Do I look it?" he quipped, trying to lighten the moment a little.

She drew back and smiled at him; "No," she agreed, "But you're very much alive, and that's something."

She ignited her lightsabre and, with two movements so fast, Qui hadn't even noticed them, she released Serenn from his binds, and, quickly hooking her 'sabre hilt back on her belt, was just in time to help catch the weakened Jedi Master as he was freed from the wall. Qui-Gon raced to Dooku's other side and slung his arm about his neck.

"You're not going to be able to roll through my hole, are you?" Jinn asked him, as Allyaah forced Serenn's other arm round her neck. Both Dooku and Jiao gave him raised-eyebrows and Qui shrugged, "Just thought I'd mention it," he said.

It didn't seem to take Allyaah long to work out how to open the door (she was much more mechanically minded than Jinn, who was closer to the so-called 'living Force') and they were soon on their way out, dragging the ailing Dooku through the bland hallways on Qui-Gon's instructions.

It was a relief to exit the compound, even if it meant facing the dull, cavernous walls of the Sohta nest once more. Once they were out of it, they all sat down for a moment, gathering their strengths for the final leg of their journey which, they knew, would comprise of some sort of confrontation with the soldiers of the Sohta nest.

By now, the lengths of robe tied about Serenn's arms could be safely removed, and he seemed to be coming back to his stubborn self; "I can walk the rest of the way," was one of the first things he said.

Qui rolled his eyes, seeming to be well used to this sort of obstinacy - he possessed it himself, of course.

"I don't think you can, really," Allyaah told him with an equal persistence, "You've lost a lot of blood. You're weak."

He almost flinched at that; if there was one thing Dooku hated, it was being dependant on others. Getting help was an insult to him, and both Allyaah and Qui, who knew Dooku almost as well as they knew themselves, were all too aware of it. This only made situations like this more awkward.

"I'll be fine."

"Fat chance," Allyaah said rather snappily, but it seemed to get the message through. She got back to her feet, and hauled Serenn up with her, who seemed to give in; he was too exhausted to argue.

"Come on, Qui. Help your Master," she insisted and they continued on their way.

It came as a bit of a shock that, when they reached the scene of the recent diversion, no Sohta Colicoids were in sight. Female and what was left of her crew were stood around waiting for them. Allyaah frowned, lowered Serenn to the ground again and, leaving Jinn by his side, walked toward the group.

"What happened?" she asked Female, an uncomfortable aura filling her heart.

"They fled," Female replied, "We do not know why, but they did."

Allyaah looked around again - very few of the Sohta Colicoids seemed to have died. Not enough to force them to retreat, anyway. Something wasn't right.

"We need to get out of here," she said as she turned back to Female, "My friend isn't well. Can you show us the way out?"

Female rallied her troops and nodded her assent, "It would be our pleaschure. Follow ush."

Allyaah returned to Dooku and Jinn, and once again took up the Jedi Master, before following the Simaran entourage toward the exit of the nest.

**TBC…**

**NB: ** - Mirozan is the name of Dooku used by Sinister Papaya Fondue in her fanfiction. I love it so much, that I've borrowed it to form the full of Dooku's name in my fics. It's already come up in my "Eclipse" fic once, as it is, but I need to give credit where it is due.


	17. The Queen's Wrath

**A Test of Faith**

**Chapter 17 - The Queen's Wrath**

The Simaran Colicoids took them back a route that none of the three Jedi had used before. It began with a long, narrow tunnel (which was most awkward to drag a six foot five Jedi through, Jinn had to mention) then opened up into a vast cavern, filled with gigantic pillars of solid, blue rock. They had to cross a large chasm over a rather fine bridge (the three had to walk sideways across that), then followed an underground stream into another huge chamber, filled with shining rocks and an unpleasant smell of sulphur.

"This is the schafescht route," Female had told them along the way, "We do not want to rischk coming under further attack, if posschible. If we are followed, the Schohta Colicoidsch will be at a dischadvantage. We know thisch territory better than they."

Allyaah hoped that what Female told them were true. The longer their journey went without interruption, or so much as a sneeze, however, the more she was inclined to believe her. Serenn seemed to be perking up a little, but he was still very weak, and had said barely a word throughout the trek, which was most unlike him. Jinn was quite lively, but the unerring sense of foreboding that affected Allyaah seemed to be touching him, too.

They stopped for a brief respite near a tiny, little underground spring, from which the three drank. The water was clean, if nothing else.

"Something's wrong."

Allyaah and Qui looked at Serenn from where they knelt by the spring - it was the first time he'd spoken in hours. He sat up a little from his slouched position by the wall, "A shadow grows in my mind, ever darker. We're being followed."

"You should have been a poet, Master," Jinn joked.

But Serenn couldn't even find it within himself to smirk right now. He just looked away and stared into space.

The next leg of their journey seemed to go on forever, and they were all beginning to wonder whether the Simaran Colicoids actually knew where they were going. None of them spoke and the atmosphere around them seemed to only get heavier and heavier. Qui-Gon was beginning to look like he could use a nice, long nap, whilst Serenn looked set to go into a tantrum if anyone crossed his line. Allyaah tried to hold herself strong in the tense gloom, but found herself itching with frustration within.

After another couple of hours, they emerged into yet another vast chamber, and this one finally seemed to be leading them upwards; at the far side, a pathway inclining toward the surface stretched far up into the ceiling, and the sight of it lightened the hearts of the three Jedi.

"We are directly below your schip," Female said, "The winding pathway yonder leadsch to the schurface. It takesch a good hour or scho to reach that far, but it isch the schafescht way out for you."

Allyaah could see that Jinn wanted to run on ahead, and she let him wander forward for a little whilst she lowered Serenn again to the ground and sat by him, taking a break before the ascent.

"Yesch, you are wische to rescht firscht," Female nodded, "For the path will tire you." She assembled her group nearby and sat down herself, her tripod of legs curling beneath her, "When you are ready, we schall eschcort you to the schurface."

Jinn was staring up the pathway, almost as though hoping to catch a glimpse of sunlight.

Allyaah smiled at him, "You have a fine apprentice," she said to Serenn as she wrapped her arms about her knees and hugged them to her chest, "He's going to make a fine Jedi."

Serenn smiled faintly, "Better than me, I hope."

"Equal to you, maybe."

"No, he will be better."

She shook her head gently, "If you say so."

Serenn pushed his hair back over his shoulders and wiped his eyes, "I can't rest. I feel uneasy."

Allyaah nodded, feeling the same, "Me too."

"I'm going to give Vance such a grilling when we get back…"

"Oh, Serenn…"

He gave her a stinging look, "_He _insisted upon us coming here, the ignorant fool."

"Yes, but so did several other members of the High Council. Let it be."

"You're too passive," he insisted, "We could all be dead by now. I can't just 'let things be', not like you."

She gave him a frown, "Sometimes we have to recognise when to, and when not to, act."

"Are you calling me reckless?"

"Yes, and you know you are, so don't take it as an insult."

"I don't. I'm proud of it."

"Well, you shouldn't be. Your protégé's amazing, but he's going the same way."

"Yes… crazy, long hair and all."

Allyaah couldn't help it - Serenn had added the last remark so dryly, she had to giggle. He seemed to soften a little at that and finally let his guard down; "I'm sorry…" he sighed, "I'm just so sick of this place."

"I know," she said, looking between him and Qui-Gon, "Do you really think he'll grow his hair when he's a Jedi Knight?"

"Oh yes," Serenn nodded, "He told me that's what he wanted."

"And a beard?"

Serenn shrugged, "Probably."

"He'll look just like you."

"Hmm…he may."

Qui-Gon was getting bored of searching for the light at the end of the tunnel, and, with a deep sigh, turned back toward the camp. He trudged along the floor and when he made the halfway point, he heard his Master call; "No sight of the sky yet, Qui?"

He shook his head, "No, Master, not yet."

Suddenly, the Force hit him unlike he'd ever felt it hit him before. Qui-Gon froze and saw the ground beneath him crack open in his mind. He felt it ripple through his body and heard the screeching roar of a colossal beast as it tore up through the floor. By the looks he briefly saw on Allyaah and Dooku's face, they were feeling something similar or the same.

Without a second though, Qui-Gon vaulted across the floor and rolled to a halt by a pillar in the ground as the foundations all around them began to rumble. Female and her group shot to their feet and began chirping to each other rapidly, small heads spinning about, searching for the source of the disturbance.

There was a deafening 'crack' as a fissure appeared in the ground and, just as Jinn had seen in his thoughts moments before, a furious screeching rose up from the perforation. Qui-Gon put his hands to his ears as the sound reverberated about the cavern, it being something as pleasant to the ears as fingernails on a blackboard, and it was followed shortly by the rising of a monster from below!

Serenn had found some strength within him that pushed him to his feet and made him drag both Allyaah and Qui-Gon back from the creature as it emerged fully, dust and debris settling around it - it was the Sohta nest's Queen.

The Simaran group all screeched in return, their shells rising in hostility.

Soon, following the Queen from the fissure, came hundreds of Sohta Colicoids, rolling around their monarch and flipping up into their attack postures, ready to battle. The squawking and squealing between all the Colicoids was quite unbearable, but more so was the fact that the three Jedi would not be escaping any time soon when the Sohta Queen and her soldiers blocked the exit…

"Leaving scho schoon?" the Queen rumbled, the great, flaccid creature with the scythe-like claws that Serenn recalled all too well…

"I hate creatures that insist on using clichéd irony," Serenn muttered as his hand flew to his lightsabre.

"You're not helping yourself," Allyaah warned him, grasping his hand before it reached his weapon and giving him a sharp glare.

He shook her grip from him, "It's my choice, Allyaah," he said, "I will fight."

"You can hardly walk…"

"The Force is with me."

"But that's doesn't really help… you know it can't sustain you forever."

He nodded, "I know."

She gave up and took her own 'sabre into her hand, stepping in front of Qui-Gon, who was already clutching his. The Queen was surrounded by what looked like thousands of Sohta Colicoids, and Jinn suddenly felt quite outnumbered. Female's small entourage was hardly enough to help them get through this motley crew.

"We fight till the lascht," Female nodded to the three, "And we bade you farewell. If you ever schee the light again, do not forget usch. Do not forget the Colicoisch who helped you."

Allyaah and Serenn gave them a nod, and marched forward with her into the jaws of the dragon…

**TBC…**


	18. The Darkness Within

**Author's Notes:** I think this is the real 'test of faith'…

----

**A Test of Faith**

**Chapter 18 - The Darkness Within**

Jinn wasn't sure who'd screamed first, but as he, Allyaah, Dooku and the Simaran squad picked up pace and charged toward the Sohta army, they all roared out some kind of war cry at the top of their lungs. Lightsabres blazing, or claws flashing, they were all soon buried within the midst of the Sohta legion, and were fighting for their freedom, and their lives.

Allyaah was the agile pacifist, as usual, and preferred to let the Colicoids fall victim to their own faults rather than to her blade. Dooku was having no such nonsense, however - tired and pale as he still looked, he called upon the Force to give him some renewed vigour and slaughtered any Sohta Colicoid who came within an inch of him. Jinn was somewhat in-between with his fighting style - his lightsabre moves were elegant and lengthy, and carried more patience than his Form-II-employing mentor. They still weren't as patient and fastidious as Allyaah's, though.

Female was proving to be a skilled warrior, and inspired her numbers to really give it their all, despite the fact they were outnumbered. Simaran Colicoids were still dropping like flies, however; in their approach to combat, the Sohta fighters were as uncouth as the thieves who occupied the dark alleys of lower Coruscant, being both brutal and merciless, and ganged up on their enemies with ease before hacking them to death. The sound of crushed shell and fractured limb filled the air, reverberating about the large, cavernous walls.

The Queen herself didn't seem to be too eager to engage in combat, but it didn't take Serenn long to figure out that she was watching him. He also soon realised that he was being steadily separated from the rest of his allies, pushed toward the Queen by careful Sohta fighters.

Serenn felt his legs begin to give way as he was guided toward the giant Queen - she looked cumbersome enough, but those scythe-like foreclaws would give anyone second thoughts about calling her a worthless fighter. He swung his 'sabre at a Colicoid to his left, decapitating it, then at another on his right, taking its arms off. Both managed to crawl away afterwards - like many other insectoids, it seemed that they could live for at least a while once their limbs had been taken off. Even without their heads.

Serenn blinked - his sight was blurring now. Sounds were beginning to muffle. White dots were flashing before his eyes. _'Stay awake, stay awake!'_ he urged himself, falling to his knees for a moment before, after taking a deep breath, he got back up again.

"Serenn!"

Someone shouted… it came to him as if from a long distance.

"You have made a fool of me, human," the Queen was hissing at him now - he hadn't realised it, but he had wound up directly in front of her, and a crowd of her soldiers were gathered around him. He gave her a glare, but he could barely focus on her - her giant bulky body seemed to break into two, then merge back into one whole again, over and over.

"If I cannot usche you to help my children," she went on, giant claws pounding the ground to either side of him, "Then I schall make schure you can help no one other, ever again."

Serenn heard her but it didn't register. He felt as though he was going to retch, and he dropped to his knees once more, seeming, in a sense, to bow down to the Queen. His head was suddenly too heavy to hold, feeling like a leaden weight, and his lightsabre slipped from his sweaty palms, falling with a gentle 'clink' by his side…

_'Must stay awake'_ his mind continued to chant, but he just couldn't obey it.

"Master! Get up!"

Someone else was calling him now… the voice sounded familiar.

"Serenn! SERENN!"

More shouts. He could discern the outline of a scythe-like claw rising up before him, the point  set to pierce his skull when it came back down.

"Get up, Serenn! _Please _get up!"

"MASTER GET UP, PLEASE!"

The cries were tearful. But he couldn't recognise them anymore. He could barely understand what they were saying. His vision darkened… and the claw began to come down.

"Serenn, NO!"

The squeals of excitement and joy that the Sohta Colicoids had been emitting suddenly ceased as, leaping through their ranks, came a solitary figure - it was Allyaah. She swung her lightsabre at the Queen's oversized claw as it came down and, with a 'slash', the appendage dropped to the ground. The beastly monarch screeched and drew backward in pain, but before she could even think of striking again, Allyaah had swung once more and taken her other scythe off, too!

["Kill her!"] the agonised Queen yelled, lamenting over her wounds, ["_Destroy _her!"]

Serenn placed his hands on the ground as he nearly collapsed forward onto it, losing all sense of balance. Still, little was registering in his mind. He felt Allyaah's hands on his shoulders, could hear her voice in his ears, "Get up, Serenn, just this once… you can do it!"

But he couldn't. He didn't understand her - until it was too late.

Allyaah made a sudden gasp. There was a crushing noise, the sound of bone snapping, and of flesh tearing. Finally, Serenn's eyes seemed to focus. He blinked and looked to the left, where a sudden movement had caught his attention. Captain was stood there, their old Colicoid friend, and one of his poisonous foreclaws was pierced straight through Allyaah's arm.

Dooku snapped back into himself as though he'd been splashed with icy water, and watched in horror as Captain withdrew his claw from Jiao's flesh, snickering to himself whilst the Jedi Knight, clutching her arm, fell to the floor. Globules of her blood spattered across the ground as Captain rose his arm in triumph and hissed some obscenity to his allies in his own tongue. His comrades shrieked with glee.

_/Allow not your emotions to rule you - clear your minds must be/_

Serenn breathed in deeply - Allyaah's face was a picture of agony and the pain seemed to be spreading through her fast.

'_It's your fault' _his mind scolded him sharply as he suddenly remembered where he was and what he was doing, the stinging words of Syfo-Dias also echoing through his thoughts - _'You know, my friend, that your subordinates will suffer for your idiocy if you make a critical error this time'_.Someone _had _suffered and it was because of _him_…

Dooku's eyes filled with a vicious maelstrom and storm clouds seemed to gather about his person; his former tiredness faded, his fatigue was momentarily forgotten and, rising to his feet, lightsabre drawn back to his hand, he charged the Colicoids with rage, calling upon the Force's darker sides…

The Sohta Colicoids were momentarily startled - the Jedi's rage had empowered him to an astonishing level and many of them were too shocked to think about reacting. With a swish of Serenn's blade, seven Colicoids fell dead at once, their bodies halved in one blow from the Jedi Master.

Dooku turned, eyes blazing, onto the next group facing him; with a nod of his head, he lifted one Colicoid into the air and tossed it into three of its friends, before he rose his hand to the ceiling and drew a stalactite down onto them. Their screams were silenced the moment it fell upon them with a devastating thud, and their thick, green blood oozed from beneath it.

Captain rolled forward next, filled with all the brashness of a true leader. He rose to his full height, his bright head crest and painted shell somewhat adding to his aura of bravado, and awaited the Jedi's onslaught; "Give up, _human_," he hissed, "You are no match!"

Dooku didn't have time for this - he opened his hand toward him and clenched his fingers into a tight fist. There was just a 'crack' as Captain's head was crushed and his body dropped, anticlimactically, to the floor.

Qui-Gon had, meanwhile, rushed over to Allyaah's side; he didn't know what to do, but he was scared, amongst other things - he'd never seen his Master like this before. His essence had gone cold, and felt full of darkness, fury, and even fear, but most of all, it was filled with hatred. Qui-Gon rested Allyaah's head in his lap and tried to comfort her, but he was at a loss as to how. A tear just ran down his cheek as he watched his mentor kill Colicoid after Colicoid after Colicoid…

The Sohta Colicoids weren't stupid. After seeing the ease with which this one Jedi had devastated their ranks, some began to back away, whilst others just gave up altogether, and coiled up into their shells before rolling off. Soon, Serenn was all but alone with the Queen. She glared at him with her tiny, black eyes, but was herself in obvious pain. Her incapacitated arms were of little use to her now, and she had no other weapons with which to fight the reckless human warrior .

"My children will revenge," she hissed.

Serenn threw her a darkly cocky grin, "I'm sure…"

"They won't allow you to get away with thisch, you schcum!"

"Why don't you -" he hissed, swinging his lightsabre up toward her and knocking her head from her body; it fell with a thud before him; "- shut up?" he finished.

And then there was silence.

Jinn swallowed as he stared at his Master's form. He was just stood still before the dead Queen, chest rising and falling deeply and head hung low. From out of the shadows, meanwhile, crept the only other two remaining Simaran Colicoids - Triangle and an unknown other. They looked at the devastation around them and cautiously trotted toward Dooku.

"You have deschtroyed the Schohta Nest," Triangle said, "You have quelled part of the evil that hasch scho long threatened to engulf our planet." They dropped to their small, knobbly knees behind him, "We thank you…" the two said in unison.

But Serenn said nothing. His eyes were glassy with agony, both physical and mental, and he ignored both Triangle and the other Simaran Colicoid as he trudged resignedly across to where Allyaah lay on the floor by Jinn's side.

He dropped to his knees as he reached them and gathered her up in his arms, holding her in a sitting position; "Allyaah," he whispered, leaning her head against his collarbone. He didn't know what to say now. Jinn just swallowed and looked between the two before he lowered his sight to the floor.

"Serenn…" she cried in return, her eyes tightly shut as her body wracked with pain. It felt as though molten lead were trying to seep through her veins and her arteries, as though her body was burning from within, and she could barely keep herself conscious against such agony.

"Hold on!" Dooku said, his voice breaking as he stroked her hair back out of her eyes, "Please…"

"It burns…" she hissed, tears streaming from her eyes, knowing all too well that Captain had injected his deadly poison into her body, "Serenn…you must… you must…"

He swallowed again, "What? What must I do?" he asked softly.

She gathered enough strength to push herself away from him so that she could look straight into his eyes, "Cut it off… cut off my arm…"

"What?" Serenn gasped and Jinn, head snapping back up, seemed to be of the same opinion - was she mad?

"Do it or it'll only spread faster!"

No one could bring themselves to speak directly of the poison, the one Jinn had researched all that time ago and found to be lethal.

"Serenn, _please_," she continued, clutching at his shoulder with her uninjured hand and endeavouring to get him to see sense.

He nodded aversely and took his 'sabre up again in his hand.

Qui-Gon made an audible sob, and got up and turned away, whilst Dooku rose his green blade above Allyaah's arm, and swung.

**TBC…**


	19. The Aftermath

**Author's Notes: **This chapter turned out longer than anticipated, but there we go. I'm using Tahl in my story for the first time, mostly inspired by what I've read of her in Sarah's "Green Stone Trilogy: Making" fic. I haven't read all the JA books, so don't know how accurate I am in her portrayal, or anything. Just give me a bit of creative license. :) She's just the kind of character I need in this part, though, serving as a good friend to Qui.

On a side note, there's only going to be another two or three more chapters in this story, methinks. Enjoy.

**A Test of Faith**

**Chapter 19 - The Aftermath**

Triangle and his friend led the solemn party of three up and out of the underground nest. The trek to the surface was a long one, through which Serenn, as weak as he himself was, insisted upon carrying Allyaah the whole way. She was in no condition to walk, and Qui-Gon was too frightened to argue with his mentor right now; he didn't recognise him.

After at least a couple of hours, the three made it onto the dry, arid surface and were guided the last mile or so back to their ship, in front of which two other Simaran scouts stood guard. Whilst Serenn immediately took Allyaah on board, Qui turned to the Colicoids and gave them a weak smile; "I want to thank you all," he said quietly, "I'm sorry for the way we are acting, but…"

"Your culture differsch from oursch, young Maschter Jinn," Triangle replied with a nod, "We do not underschtand, but we accept that."

Jinn nodded, glancing at his feet.

"Pleasche remember that not all racesch wisch to be allied with your own. We are different and wisch to remain scho."

Qui gave them a nod, "Thank you for your help, anyway and… well, I doubt we'll bother you again. I'll try to see to that if I can. And good luck dealing with that 'Sohtrop' Nest."

"After the Schohta Nest, the Schotrop schould be little problem," Triangle added, before bowing his head low, "Farewell."

"And you," Qui said, bowing in return and making for the ship.

----

Qui-Gon really wanted to help his already ailing Master on the journey home to Coruscant - he hated feeling inadequate and useless - but as soon as he took a seat in the cockpit, he fell asleep. How his Master was keeping awake, he knew not - he could only gather that his mentor possessed a great sense of self-will within, and that alone prevented him from lapsing into a much-needed slumber.

Qui was mistaken, however. It was the injury to Allyaah, and the uncertain future that she now faced, that played most heavily on Dooku's mind, and it was this more then mere self-will that kept him awake. He could not be expected to sleep with so heavy a load on his shoulders, a load he felt utterly responsible for…

_/You know, my friend, that your subordinates will suffer for your idiocy if you make a critical error this time/_

Allyaah, meanwhile, was laid out back in one of the cots, her cauterised wound now wrapped in clean bandages and daubed in antiseptic. She seemed stable enough, and had been the only one with the guts and the brains to act in the previous situation as soon as she'd known that she'd been injected with a deadly venom, even if it had meant losing a limb. Hopefully, her action had been made in time, and that she would now recover…

-----

"Qui-Gon…"

"Nmph?"

"Come on, get up."

"Ten more minutes…?"

He heard a gentle chuckle, though the voice was filled with a slight coldness and emptiness. The Padawan opened his eyes and his Master came into focus before him.

"We're home, Qui - come on."

"Home?" Jinn leapt to his feet, "Already? I slept the _whole_ way? I… Master, I'm sorry, I -"

Dooku hushed his protégé and held his hands out gently toward him, "Calm down, Qui," he said, his voice still quiet and rather sombre, "It's okay - you had a right to sleep."

It was then that it really struck Jinn as to how bad Dooku looked; "You look terrible, Master…" he said before he could stop himself, his brow furrowing with concern.

Another faint smile pricked up at the corner of Dooku's mouth, "I admit, I've had better days, my Padawan," he said, before he then nodded toward the cockpit exit, "Off you go…"

Jinn made to leave then halted; he looked back at his mentor, "Aren't you coming?"

Dooku swallowed and looked at Qui from under heavily lidded eyes, "Allyaah and I both need to go to the medical wing. I suggest that you go back to our rooms, get washed and have a long rest. Unless you're injured, young one?"

Qui shook his head, "I'm fine, Master, really."

Dooku nodded, "Go on, then."

Jinn swallowed and hesitantly left - for some reason, he felt awkward with his Master. He felt as though he shouldn't be leaving him, though another part of him felt that it would be an insult to his mentor if he stayed with him. He made his way out of the ship and down onto the landing platform, high up the Jedi Temple. It was quite deserted… apart from a lone figure who stood there, her cloak wrapped tightly around her as harsh winds blew across the platform.

Tahl.

She smiled as he emerged from the ship, and, as she approached him, Qui suddenly became aware that he hadn't bathed for days, that his hair was a mess and that if he looked as bad as he felt, an Acklay would be more attractive than him…

"I heard you were on your way back," Tahl said as soon as they reached one-another. She reached up and brushed some dirt off his shoulder, "How are you?"

They exchanged glances which both concurred that that last question was the most stupid thing possible to ask right now, before they both laughed.

"I feel awful…" he finally said as Tahl fell into step beside him and walked him back into the Temple. They strolled through the docking bay, giving a couple of nods to a few Jedi working on the ships there, and made for the lift.

"I heard that Allyaah isn't good."

"She's not," Jinn mumbled, shaking his head.

Tahl gave him a long stare, "What else is bothering you, Qui?"

Jinn swallowed, his feet suddenly becoming very interesting to look at; "It's my Master…" he dithered, "He's… not right."

Tahl nodded slowly as if she somehow understood.

"He's… just different. Sad, and distant, and… I can't pinpoint it." He glanced up at Tahl, "I'm scared."

She placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, "He'll be fine," she whispered, "Don't worry about it. It's not your fault."

----

Then who's fault was it?

Over the next few days, all Qui-Gon could feel was somehow blameworthy. He knew his mentor probably felt the same, if not worse, whilst no one would tell him, either way, how Allyaah was doing. He knew Allyaah better than to think that she'd just be wallowing in self-pity, thinking herself culpable for everything that had happened, but that just told him that she was a different kind of person to either him or his mentor. But, then again, Allyaah didn't have anything to lament except the loss of her arm, and as big a loss as that was, it was a choice she had made. Dooku was lamenting her injuries, for which he blamed himself, amongst other things, whilst Jinn felt somehow culpable for his Master's sorrow, feeling as though he should have done something more to help him. The fact that he couldn't see much logic in his feelings didn't stop him being depressed. Even Tahl's words of comfort didn't help him much.

He spent at least four days on his own. He had the apartment he and his Master shared all to himself, but attended no classes whatsoever. No one visited him, except Tahl at the end of the day, if she could spare the time. He sometimes found himself just spending entire days lying lethargically on his bed and staring at the ceiling, waiting for something to happen. His mind often grew so tired of thinking things over that it just went blank…

It only dawned on the Padawan, after several days of this, that it could be his inaction making him more depressed than anything else, and decided finally to go and find out what was happening. Part of him dreaded the truth, yet part of him sought some release from this void in which he was stuck, where everyone else's life was going on around him whilst his was stuck in a rut and waiting to be pulled out.

He got up early one morning and walked the long halls and corridors of the Temple, making his way to the medical wing. The sun was bright, the sky blue, and Qui-Gon almost wanted to rebuke the weather for being so insensitively cheerful.

As he descended a flight of steps and turned the corner to the hospital wing, however, he suddenly found himself face-to-face with Master Syfo-Dias. The two halted in their paths and gave each other frosty looks, staring each other out with their equally blue eyes.

"Tch, tch," Syfo-Dias said first, "An idle Padawan loitering about corridors? Do we have nothing better to do, young Master Jinn?"

Qui-Gon's gaze tightened and he pursed his lips, "I'm not 'loitering', I'm going to visit my Master and my friend in the hospital wing. How can there possibly be something better for me to do than offer them my support?"

Master Syfo-Dias glared scathingly, "Your Master can take care of himself, I'm sure." He walked brusquely passed the boy, "Compassion is only an ally when constrained, Master Jinn," he added as he went, "Remember that."

Qui-Gon scowled; he didn't understand Master Syfo-Dias. He was a great Jedi, but he had a real problem with trust. Jinn wasn't sure he'd ever learn the reasons for why that was, just like he'd never learn about the reasons for all of his mentor's grudges and aversions.

He sighed, shrugging to himself and walking on toward the sickbay.

----

When he reached it, the Jedi in charge of the bay gave him an uncertain look and went to check with his Master first, to see if he was willing to take a visitor. Jinn found the thought of his mentor turning him away a dreadful one, but he wasn't to have to face any such thing - when the Jedi nurse came back, she said that his Master was rather elated to hear that he had finally come down and he was allowed straight through.

Master Dooku was in a side room, leading off from the central hall. Qui-Gon almost bounded in, he felt so excited inside, and said, as soon as he entered the doorway, face plastered with a great smile, "Master!" Then he gasped, taken aback, "Force - where's your hair?"

"Nice to see you, too, Padawan," Serenn replied, sat up in bed and reading something or other. He set the book aside and watched his apprentice approach.

Qui-Gon was almost laughing by now; he reached out and patted his mentor's head. Dooku's hair was cropped as short as his, if not shorter, and Jinn found it all rather amusing; "Oh, shooting stars! It's so short!"

Serenn smirked as Jinn pulled up a chair and sat by his bedside, "You look like a Padawan!" the boy added.

Dooku glanced up at his brow, "It had to go, Qui… They told me it was a complete mess. Had blood in it and everything."

"Are you gonna grow it back?"

"Of course."

Jinn was still in awe, "I can't believe how different you look. To me, Master Dooku has always been  the man with the mad, long hair. I guess I never thought of you as the Jedi _under _the hair."

Serenn laughed, "You do come out with some strange things, my boy."

Qui settled down a little and, for a moment, he and his mentor just stared at one another.

"I thought I'd lost you," Jinn finally said, quietly.

Serenn frowned "What do you mean?"

"You're back now," Qui went on with an affirmative nod, "Well, I mean, you've always _been_ here, but… in your mind, your character, you…" He hesitated as though he suddenly felt he shouldn't be telling his Master this, that it might insult him.

"Go on," Dooku insisted.

Jinn sighed, "Back on Colla IV, you were consumed by a frenzy," he whispered, "You became someone I didn't know or recognise and I was scared. I thought that you might never come back again, that you might never be yourself again." His blue eyes met Serenn's brown and he added, "Part of you fell over a line and it was looking so much like you'd never come back. Please… _please _don't do that again."

Dooku sighed to himself and shook his head, staring downward; "I can't promise you anything, Qui," he muttered, "I'm sorry."

Qui-Gon reached out and placed a hand on his Master's shoulder, "I forgive you."

Dooku gave him an earnest look, "You're so compassionate, Qui-Gon. Sometimes I admit you seem flippant and easygoing, yet, deep down, you're always observing, always watching and thinking. You're so full of hope and mercy and note the most delicate details in a person's disposition, things that most people would never pick up upon." He reached out and ruffled Jinn's hair, "I only wish I had the skills you carry."

Qui was proud to hear all this from Dooku, though the fact that it carried some of his mentor's remorse dampened his pride a little; "The universe would be a boring place if we were all the same, Master," he said.

Serenn smiled, "You will be a great Jedi Knight," he nodded certainly, "I know you will. And you will be a much wiser man than I."

Jinn smiled in return and they sat in contented silence for a while.

----

It was a few more days before Allyaah, who had been fighting against the toxins that ran through her veins, was able to accept visitors. Things seemed to be looking up for her, and everyone was amazed by her progressing recovery. By this time, Master Dooku had recovered his own strengths and was allowed to leave the ward. Tahl, upon hearing the news, had agreed to accompany Qui-Gon down to meet his Master, and they hoped to be able to say hello to Allyaah as well, and give her their best wishes.

Serenn took the opportunity, before he left the wing, to see Allyaah first, however. He, after all, owed her his life…

As soon as he was admitted to her room, he was greeted with a similar reaction to that which his Padawan had given him.

"Oh my word!" was the first thing Allyaah said as she set her eyes on Serenn. She held her hand to her mouth as though she'd never seen anything so outrageous; "Come here," she said with a smile, gesturing for him to take a seat by the side of her bed.

He came and sat by her and watched as she reached out with her remaining hand and gently touched the short hair on his head; she giggled a little, something it was almost a comfort for him to hear, before she composed herself and said, "Where's you hair gone?"

"It's been cut off," he smirked.

She gave him a wry look, "I can see that," she said, "But why?"

"It was a matted mess…" he shrugged, "And I reckon that some of the Order just wanted an excuse to give it a trim for once…"

She smiled again, "Got that right. But not the beard?"

He looked offended, "My beard?" he said, sitting back and running his hand over it, "That's not going anywhere. I'd feel most plain without that."

She shook her head, "You _are _vain…"

"I'm not… I'm too lazy to be bothered with shaving every morning."

She laughed once more then, giving him an earnest look asked, "How are you?"

"Better. I think," he said, clasping his hands together and looking down at the floor for a moment, "And you?"

She turned away, exhaling slowly, "Okay," she whispered, "My body's been badly weakened, though. They say it'll be a miracle if I can go on any missions in an active field again."

"That bad?"

"Well, with only one arm, I can see their point," she added, "Plus, my immune system's haggard…"

"Force…" he murmured, hanging his head again, "I'm so sorry."

She smiled sadly at him and put her hand to his chin, tilting his countenance back up, "It's _not _your fault," she said, emphasising her every word as though trying to drill it into him.

His mouth flickered with a brief smile, but it was an empty one, and Allyaah knew that he didn't believe her. But there was something else wrong, too.

"What is it?" she asked.

He looked back to her, "I feel like a Padawan again," he said.

"You look like one."

He smiled halfheartedly, "Qui came to see me a few days ago, and he gave me such a lecture. He doesn't realise he's doing it, but he's so wise, and I often feel like our positions are reversed, like _he's _teaching _me_."

"We learn from our children, so to speak," she said.

"You know, I once hoped to be the greatest Jedi Knight," he said, sitting back in his chair, "I knew I could be, with the skill and the strength that I possessed. But I was a fool to ever think such… I'm so flawed, and when I look at Qui and recognise all of the superb qualities that are within him, see how everything comes pretty much as second nature to him, I look back to my own youth and wonder who I was trying to kid? He's going to be the best, or close enough - far better than me either way. If it wasn't for his huge capacity for compassion, he'd be absolutely faultless." He shook his head and gave Allyaah a troubled look, "How did such a boy grow under my tutelage?"

She looked straight back at him, "Life teaches Padawans as well as their teachers," she said, "And sometimes our apprentices often pick up on skills that we did not. They can sometimes help to teach us what we missed, whilst we teach them all we know." She gave his shoulder a light rub, "So what's the problem?"

He sighed, "Don't you see? I'm failing him. I don't want to fail him, not again… I want to set an example, to be a good master to him, but I'm afraid… because I know I'll fail him…"

She gave him another sad look, remembering their conversation just prior to their arrival at Colla, where he'd confessed to fearing a similar thing. But, as if on cue, there was a knock at the door, and both Qui-Gon and Tahl peeked their heads in.

Thankful for the distraction, Allyaah gave them both welcoming smiles and gestured for them to come in. Tahl was the third person to become transfixed by Dooku's abnormally short hair. She gaped at him for a while before she realised that she was being rude and forced herself to look away. Her eyes kept darting back to him, however, almost as though she was certain that, any minute now, Dooku's hair would turn out to be long again, and she'd just have been hallucinating the whole thing…

"Glad to see you looking better, Master Jiao," Jinn said as he walked into the room and gave her an obedient bow. Tahl followed suit, and gave her another polite bow.

"Thank you, Master Jinn," she said, "And it's nice to see you again, Tahl. It's been a while. How's your Master doing?"

"Very well, thank you," Tahl replied, taking a seat by Qui-Gon the opposite side of the bed.

"And I bet you've been helping Qui-Gon lately, no? Getting him up-and-running?"

"Naturally," Tahl smirked.

"See, it's the women who run all the men in this place," Allyaah said with a quiet chuckle.

Jinn frowned, exchanging glances with his equally affronted mentor, before looking back to the girls again.

"Joke, Qui, it's a joke!" Tahl said, holding her hands up in defence.

----

It was for the first in a long time, later that day, that Qui-Gon found himself walking back to his quarters with his Master. Though Dooku had recovered, he still looked a little pale and was noticeably thinner than usual. His beard had lost its shape, too, looking rather odd with his short hair.

"Are you sure you're okay now, Master?" Qui-Gon asked as they entered their apartment.

Serenn sat down upon one of the cushion seats, crossing his legs and placing his hands on his knees, whilst Jinn shut the door; "I'm better, Qui-Gon," he replied evasively, giving his protégé another of his quick but weak smiles, "Better."

Qui sat opposite him and looked to him, sensing that his mentor had more to say.

"I'm sorry, my Padawan," he soon said, "I never meant to hurt you. I just haven't been able to find myself these past few days…"

"I said I forgive you, Master," Qui nodded selflessly, "And I do. We all go through bad times in life."

"But it's _I _who should've been supporting _you_!" Dooku suddenly snapped, more to himself than to his apprentice, "Not leaving you to fend for yourself and get through the trauma on your own. I've been on missions before, and I've seen comrades injured, even killed, before my very eyes - I should know how to react by now, I should be there to support you, you who are so new to this type of misfortune…" He rose to his feet, suddenly filled with an angry restlessness, and paced away toward the windows whilst Qui sat and stared at his crossed legs.

Serenn clasped his hands at the small of his back and shook his head, staring blankly at the traffic flowing beyond the Temple; "Instead it was I who didn't know how to react."

"But you were ill, Master. You weren't well. And Tahl was there, she helped me out."

"But it's not Tahl's job to help you out, it's _mine_," he insisted, his tone growing weary. He rubbed his eyes and sighed deeply, "I'm sorry, Qui… Here I go, ranting again."

Jinn smirked a little.

"You go off and enjoy the rest of your day. We'll begin to pick up the pieces tomorrow."

Qui nodded and got to his feet; "Are you sure you're all right, Master?" he asked before he left.

Dooku nodded to him, "As well as I should be, my apprentice."

Qui turned and slowly left - he'd spend the rest of the day with Tahl, or something. He'd let his Master be alone with his thoughts. He knew that was what he wanted.

**TBC…**


	20. The Judgment of Master Dooku

**A Test of Faith**

**Chapter 20 - The Judgment of Master Dooku**

So preoccupied was Jinn with the recovery of his Master and the welfare of Allyaah that it completely slipped his mind that they'd been sent on a mission in the first place. It came as rather a shock, then, when he and Master Dooku were summoned before the High Council to report on the matter. Allyaah was still too weak to come out of the medical ward, so she was unable to accompany them, and Qui-Gon felt that this played against them - Allyaah was the peacekeeper in these type of matters, the one who might keep Dooku from becoming irritated, or from rising to sarcasm, and she just wouldn't be there to hold him back this time…

Then again, Qui wasn't even sure his mentor was up to sarcasm yet. He still seemed subdued and looked pale, and, though they had together managed to return to some semblance of normality in their day-to-day routines, Allyaah's ill health continued to loom over Serenn's head, and he seemed to take it as some sort of penance. Jinn didn't like to see his Master lacking so much in his usual vigour and confidence - it just wasn't right.

It was drawing toward the evening when the two made their way up to the council chambers for an audience with the Order's elite. Qui kept unconsciously tidying his Jedi robes, running out the creases and folds in a nervous attempt to look presentable. He had little or no idea whether or not he'd even be addressed in the forthcoming meeting, but he at least wanted to look the part and not be frowned upon for untidiness; he didn't need that reflecting on his Master along with everything else.

Serenn himself wasn't too bothered about his appearance. He didn't look scruffy in any way, but he didn't look immaculately presentable either. His hair was still really short, which gave him a rather surly look, though he'd at least managed to trim his beard back into shape.

The journey was made in an uneasy silence and they reached the High Tower as soon as darkness had fallen outside. They then exchanged glances before they, as one, entered the chamber.

They bowed to the assembly once they stood in the room's centre, facing Master Yoda and the aloof Syfo-Dias. Jinn joined his mentor in giving Dias a quick glare, neither of them being on good footing with him right now.

"Master Dooku," Yoda began, "Time you have been given to recover. The mission to Colla IV now, report upon you must."

"It was a disaster," he said plainly, glancing at each of the members within his sight range before him, "Like I said it would be."

Jinn shifted his weight from one foot to the other, looking uneasy.

"I assume you did try?" Dias said, leaning forward in his seat.

Serenn's lip trembled a little but he suppressed his indignation, "Yes," he said, taking a deep breath, "We did try." His eyes moved back to Yoda, "My Masters, the planet is unwilling to have anything to do with us. They've been using our idiotic, almost vain wish to 'civilise' them against us, and have been drawing Jedi in for the vile means of their own genetic experiments, through which they -"

"What nonsense is this?" Vance asked, eyebrows cocked as he sat back, "It's ludicrous."

"If you'd give me chance to finish…" Serenn returned between gritted teeth.

Yoda rose his small, green hand and a respectable calm came over all gathered. He turned to Qui-Gon and said, quietly, "Explain all, the Padawan will."

Serenn and Vance both looked rather shocked, but Serenn's faded to pride whilst Dias just seemed a little perturbed.

Qui-Gon himself looked horrified.

Yoda gave him an encouraging smile, "Master Qui-Gon," he said, "From your view, the situation we shall see."

Jinn felt a renewed confidence within himself and ploughed straight into a lengthy retelling of the events - about their landing, their travel across the desert, their journey underground, how they'd met with the Sohta Colicoids and been treated as guests before the Colicoids from the Simara Nests attacked, separating he and Master Jiao from Dooku. He then told the part of the story Serenn wasn't privy to, concerning how he and Allyaah were taken to the Simara Nest's Queen, how the Colicoids there tried to urge them to go home and leave Master Dooku, because he was doomed to die, telling them that they'd secured their ship and would give them safe passage. He then explained how both he and Allyaah had refused and, together with the Simarans, they'd made a plan to rescue Master Dooku, who they were sure would be held within the Sohta Nest's experimental compound.

"It was his blood they wanted, or so the Simarans reckoned, "Jinn rambled on, holding his audience well with his tale, "The Sohta Nest wanted to enhance their brood, or something, and felt that by genetically engineering them with the use of a powerful Jedi's blood, they'd be able to do that, and then dominate the planet." The Padawan swallowed, taking a breath, "We weren't gonna let that happen, though. Whilst Allyaah and a group of Simarans acted as a diversion, another group of Colicoids escorted me to the compound where I went and found Master Dooku. They were taking blood from him and… well, the Jedi we'd been sent to save, they were…"

He paused, the image of the mangled, lifeless bodies continuing to prove an unshakable vision in his mind.

"Go on, young Padawan," Yoda nodded, his voice hush and calm.

"They were dead," he murmured, staring unseeingly at the middle distance, "They…"

"Their blood wasn't strong enough," Serenn added, placing a hand on Jinn's shoulder, "That's what a leader in the Sohta Nest told me. That was why they'd wanted me, instead."

Jinn swallowed convulsively, "I helped free Master Dooku. Allyaah had to come and help me, too," he continued, "Then we had to try and escape. Master Dooku was very weak… he'd lost a lot of blood, and Allyaah and I had to kinda carry him most of the way."

Serenn nodded vaguely, though he wasn't willing to admit this.

"The Sohta Colicoids, who had been attacking, seemed to have vanished on our way out, though. Until we got near an exit, through which the Simarans told us we could get to the surface and find our ship. That was when the Sohta's Queen attacked, with hundreds of her soldiers."

"And this is when Allyaah got injured?" Syfo-Dias asked.

Jinn nodded, "Yes. Master Dooku…" He paused, hesitating. He gave his mentor a glance and when he got a reluctant nod back, he went on, "Master Dooku was still weak. He insisted on helping us fight - and we had to, masters, or we would have all died - but he couldn't sustain himself. Allyaah saved him before the Queen killed him, and, when she was attending to my Master, another of the Colicoids ran his claw through her arm…"

Jinn sighed, finding this lengthy recollection to be quite tiring; My Master came back to himself then. He seemed to gain strength and he fought off loads of the Colicoids."

"By killing them?" Vance interposed.

Jinn glared at him but swallowed and nodded faintly, "Yes… he killed many of them."

Serenn looked away, closing his eyes as the weight reinstated itself over his heart.

"Hardly a way to keep the peace, is it, Master Dooku?" Dias asked grimly.

"Discussions we shall halt until finished the Padawan has," Yoda interjected suddenly, causing Vance to flinch a little.

"We'd all be dead if my Master hadn't acted," Qui-Gon said quietly, determined to defend Dooku.

"Who's able to say such?" Syfo-Dias rejoined.

Jinn swallowed, eyeing Vance with a growing dislike, unable to think of a way to get one over him. He rose his chin a little and said, "That is what I believe."

"Continue, Master Jinn," Yoda insisted.

"Allyaah then asked my Master to amputate her arm. And he did. She… she knew that it was the only way she might survive," he went on, "And then the last few Simarans helped lead us out, before we came home…"

He looked around at the council, his account having come to an end, until he suddenly remembered something else, and added before anyone could speak, "And Triangle… I mean, one of the Simaran Colicoids told me something before we left."

Serenn again looked to Jinn, unaware of this part of the story as well.

"He told me that their race does not wish to be allied with us," Qui-Gon said, "He told me that they are best left alone. And I said I'd see to that… as best as I could."

He finally stopped, and there followed an edgy silence. Qui was beginning to wonder whether he should have said 'the end' or something, just to let them know, but it seemed that the lull was serving as a period of thought.

Yoda soon raised his little head and looked Jinn in the eyes, then looked to his old Padawan, the lofty Dooku. Syfo-Dias looked bursting to offer his judgement, though his fear of Yoda rebuking him again seemed to hold his tongue.

"Failed the mission did not," Yoda finally uttered, "Found was the fate of the late Jedi, though unfortunate it turned out to be…"

Dooku nodded faintly, looking downward.

"And, the wishes of the Colicoids, as young Master Jinn respected, we must also respect in turn," Yoda added.

Dias turned to Yoda, "But my Master, we -"

"Expressed their wishes the Colicoids have," Yoda again interrupted, managing to somehow raise his voice above Syfo-Dias's, "And respect them we must. No more Jedi shall we to Colla IV send, not until ready to receive us, they are."

"They need to sort out the problems on their own world before we can begin to believe that they'll think about the problems outside of it," Qui-Gon suddenly added, followed by several mumbled nods and assents from the council circle. Syfo-Dias eyed him uncertainly.

"But we can't leave wrongs unpunished, "Vance finally stated, staring at Dooku, "Master Allyaah, though she has been through enough, seems to have made no errors, and nor does Master Jinn warrant any condemnation…"

Serenn stared at Dias, asking him to just be plain and tell him his punishment.

"Many Colicoids were killed, and that can only act as a negative to their view of the Republic that exists outside their world."

Jinn wanted to tell Master Syfo-Dias that the Simaran Colicoids had bowed down to his mentor after he'd helped quell the threat of the Sohta Nest, but Serenn gave his shoulder a light squeeze, telling him to remain silent.

"What does the council suggest?"

The ten members outside of Syfo-Dias and Yoda all looked a little uneasy at the prospect of dealing out punishment to such a respected and well-liked Jedi.

Dias looked over them, "Colicoids have died!" he reminded them.

"But only in defence," Master Limaya, the Zabrak sat across the room, reminded him in turn, "Not in cold blood."

"I'm not certain," Oppo Rancisis said, "If Master Jiao hadn't been injured, I believe Master Dooku may have acted more leniently."

Serenn was getting impatient. He looked to Master Yoda, asking for them to be quick and get it over with.

"More debate this needs," Yoda said in turn, "Master Dooku's punishment later shall be dealt."

----

"Later!" Serenn sighed as he and Jinn walked back through the Temple halls, "Later, I tell you, Qui! Leave me hanging for a while, why don't they?"

Jinn was almost laughing - his mentor was annoyed, but he was acting more like he usually did, and taking it all in his stride. An audience with Syfo-Dias seemed to have helped bring him back to reality.

He shook his head as they rounded a corner and stepped into a lift along with a couple of Younglings. One was a human girl, the other a lanky Rodian, and they both looked up at the two, tall men with nervous smiles. Jinn smiled back whilst Serenn flashed them a brief smirk.

"Hi," Qui said to them as the lift began to descend.

"Hello," the girl said with a little wave.

"Are you still a Padawan?" the little Rodian then asked Jinn.

Qui-Gon nodded, flicking his braid over his shoulder, "Yup."

"You're too big to be a Padawan!" the girl giggled.

Qui-Gon looked mildly insulted, but just smiled back at them anyway, "Am I?"

The two Younglings nodded, laughing amongst themselves.

"Am I too big to be a Padawan?" Serenn then asked them.

The Younglings looked him up and down, "Yeah, coz Padawans don't have beards."

Serenn smirked, "Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

"And you don't have a braid."

"No… but it might have been cut off."

"That means you're a Jedi Knight."

"Or it could mean I've been a naughty Padawan and have to start over."

The two Younglings looked confused and glanced at each other, thinking this over; "Then you've been a Padawan a _loooong _time," the girl deduced.

Jinn exchanged glances with his mentor now and they laughed.

"Are you _both _Padawans, then?" the Rodian asked, confused.

"No, I'm a Jedi Knight," Serenn nodded, before he placed his hand on Qui-Gon's shoulder and said, "And this young man will be one soon, too."

**TBC…**


	21. The Hinge of Fate

**A Test of Faith**

**Chapter 21 - The Hinge of Fate**

Everything seemed to be going quite well, if only Dooku's condemnation wasn't included in the equation. He'd been rebuked before, but he had a feeling that this time he might be giving a more sever sentence. He wasn't going to waste time dwelling on what that might be, however, and, along with Qui, tried to get back on with his life as best he could. Allyaah also seemed to be progressing well, and some said she might be out of hospital within the week, though, with only one arm, it might take her time to adjust to her own dependence again. Serenn joked that she should take on a Padawan just to act as a doer of her chores, but she told him she would do no such thing in return.

Jinn also felt that it his Master was getting him ready for the Trials. He didn't know how far ahead it might be before he would be put forward for them - maybe not quite yet - but he could tell that his mentor thought him more than capable of taking on the world alone now. He knew that he couldn't protect him forever…

Suddenly, however, a dark cloud cast itself over the scenario…

It was some time around midnight when Serenn was awoken by an old Jedi comrade, Hran Beling; the small Vicon Jedi Master shook him with haste, whispering his name over and over; "Serenn, wake up! Serenn!"

Dooku grunted, opening his eyes and focusing them on the small Jedi, "What is it?" he drearily frowned in the darkness.

"It's Allyaah," Hran continued, a sombre look on his face.

Serenn immediately came round, "What?" he uttered faintly, sitting up in bed and throwing his duvet across the mattress.

Hran put a hand on the lofty Jedi's arm, "Come quickly…" And, almost as if he knew what Dooku would do before he left, he added, "And she asked that you come alone."

Serenn sighed - as Beling had predicted, he had been about to go and fetch Qui-Gon. Instead, he adhered to Allyaah's wishes, and just got up, throwing on his Jedi cloak, before hastily following Hran to see Allyaah.

**----**

The sun filtered in through Qui-Gon's window. Rolling over and sighing in the intense morning light, he promptly fell onto the floor with a thud and woke up. Managing to unscramble from his captivity within the duvet, he then trudged across the floor and slammed the button by his door, watching it swish open.

As he paced into the main chambers of the quarters he and Dooku shared, however, he immediately realised that things were amiss. For one, there was no Dooku sat at the breakfast table, drinking grossly black coffee and indulging himself in the tedious news reports over the holo-network.

Qui-Gon frowned; "Master…?" he asked aloud, looking dopily around the room as he plodded across it, before he fell over a padded stool on the floor and hit the ground again with an 'Oooof'. Whilst he mumbled insults at himself for his own clumsiness, his eyes suddenly caught the flicker of something under a table leg, not far from where he'd fallen. Frowning, he reached out and grabbed hold of it, finding that it was one of the small pieces of paper his Master had a habit of scribbling notes upon. Dooku usually stuck them all over the place in order to remind himself of 'things to do' and whatnot, but it was not the case this time; rolling onto his back and holding the note above him (taking a minute to interpret his mentor's appalling handwriting), Qui-Gon realised, beyond all comprehension, that the note was actually for _him_. It said:

_ "Qui, Room of the Thousand Fountains_

_ Master D."_

Jinn blinked, reading the overly simple note through several times, even trying it backwards to see if this was some kind of eccentric test on his teacher's behalf, but in the end, he decided that it was just a normal note. Normality wasn't a quality his Master possessed in spades, however, so this all worried him. And how he'd known to put the note _exactly _where Qui-Gon would fall, and trust that he would find it, was beyond him.

Still, Qui didn't quite know why, but as he washed and dressed, he couldn't help but feel uneasy about the whole thing…

Within half an hour, he stumbled quickly through the Temple halls, halls which were still deserted at this early hour, and eventually made it to the Room of the Thousand Fountains. Stopping by the entrance, Jinn gradually peered round it, his heart feeling inexplicably heavy…

Silhouetted by the far windows was his Master, back turned, hands clasped behind him, staring out over the sunrise beyond. Jinn looked unsurely about before he took a few steps into the room and halted once more. The patter of the water was loud in the void.

"Master?" he murmured in a faint whisper, though his voice reverberated round the room like the boom of a gong.

Dooku didn't turn to him, but he rose his hand and gestured for him to approach. Qui hesitated once more before he paced steadily toward his mentor and drew up uneasily by his side. He stared up at him, following Dooku's line of sight out across to the horizon, before he looked back at him again - his Master's eyes were tired and distant, his face was again very pale, and his eccentric disposition, which had come back to him in leaps and bounds as of late, was simply absent.

Qui sighed, waiting…

Eventually, after swallowing hard, Serenn turned to his Padawan and stared at him; his eyes were more ravaged than Jinn had first thought.

"What is it, Master?" Qui-Gon whispered, his brow creasing.

"It's Allyaah…" he muttered, heaving a great sigh, his eyes darting away again toward the horizon; Jinn wondered why he wouldn't look at him for long.

"She died last night…" he finally added, barely able to speak the words.

Qui felt like he'd just been shot; "What?" he gasped in utter disbelief. He took a few steps back, shaking his head.

Dooku nodded sadly, "It seems that the poison was stronger than we thought... It grew in her, and waited and… well…"

Jinn hadn't wanted to see his Master like this again - he was unsteady, unable to keep himself calm, filled to the brim with many a thing that he couldn't pinpoint, and some things he was sure he didn't want to…

Serenn inhaled once more and looked up to the ceiling, his hands tightening their grip behind him, "I went to see her last night," he explained, "She called for me. She knew the end was coming and coming fast, and…" He breathed again, chest heavy with grief, "She died in my arms."

Qui was shaking his head - this wasn't happening, this _wasn't _happening…

"Why…?" Dooku whispered, almost echoing his protégé's very thoughts, "Why did she have to die? What went wrong?"

Qui felt his legs go weak beneath him, but he forced himself to keep standing, for his Master if for nothing else.

"W-Why?" Serenn went on, glancing at his feet.

"Please don't cry, Master" Qui-Gon found himself uttering; he could see the water building up in his mentor's gaze, could see him trying his hardest not to break.

"I'm not crying…" he insisted.

Jinn remained silent - he didn't know what to do; it was hard to help a person who refused to help themselves.

"Why am I feeling like this?" he continued quietly, trudging a few steps away toward the huge windows, his form becoming embossed with the morning's glorious sunlight, "I've seen comrades die before, but I… I've never felt like this. Why don't I know how to react?"

_'You know how, you just won't let yourself,'_ Qui wanted to say, but he couldn't bring himself to utter it. Instead, he said something which, in retrospect, he wished he hadn't; "But you've never loved anyone so much before."

Serenn glared at him, a combination of insecurity and astonishment in his drained, reddened gaze.

Qui suddenly realised what he had said and tried to shrink away from that potent stare that he knew oh-so-well… but he couldn't.

After what seemed like an age to the discomfited Padawan, Dooku turned away again; "I won't be teaching you today, Qui-Gon," he said, "I'm sorry."

Jinn nodded meekly; "I understand completely, Master."

Qui stood there for a while longer, unsure of what to do, until, after a while, Serenn gestured shortly to him with his hand, and asked him, this time, to leave. With a swift bow of respect, despite the fact his mentor wasn't looking, Jinn then turned and plodded out, numb to the world and empty inside…

**----**

Qui found himself back in he and his Master's chambers before long, though he couldn't recount the journey he had made there from the Room of the Thousand Fountains. He sat on the low cushioned seats, legs crossed, his mind a barren wasteland of devastation and grief. Eventually, the doors slid open, and, out of the corner of his eye, Qui caught the sight of his best friend, Tahl. She slowly walked over to him and stopped a few feet away, looking down at him uncertainly.

"I'm so sorry, Qui," she whispered, "I… I don't know what to say."

Jinn gave her an empty smile in greeting, unable to put any joy into it; "It's okay…" he muttered, "You don't have to say anything."

She lowered herself onto a stool by his side, looking at him with understanding.

Jinn glanced to her, "Why did she have to die?" he asked her.

She put a hand on his shoulder and rubbed it affectionately; "I don't know Qui, but at least you know that she's one with the Force now, something we'll all be one day - we'll all become part of that one, great spirit."

Qui attempted to smirk, but it failed miserably; "That's a scary thought," he tried to joke.

Tahl could hear his voice breaking, could see him torn within, the shock slowly seeping in toward his core; "Oh please don't cry, Qui!" she asked him, feeling powerless.

"I can't help it!" he choked, a tear rolling down his face.

"Then cry, Qui-Gon," she resolved, taking a hold of him by both shoulders, "Cry."

"Thanks Tahl," he muttered as floods of tears were set lose down his face; Tahl held him to her and let him cry out his woe on her shoulders. His Master never had, never could, nor ever would, teach him how to grieve…

Meanwhile, up on the roof of the Jedi Temple, Serenn stood alone, leaning onto a barrier with his head in his hand. Many tears of his own ran down his gaunt face, but he had no shoulder to cry on. The only entity he would allow to be privy to his grief was the skies…

_Hope fades_

_Into the world of night_

_Through shadows falling_

_Out of memory and time_

_Don't say_

_We have come now to the end_

_You and I will meet again_

_Sleep now_

_Dream---of the ones who came before_

_They are calling_

_From across a distant shore_

_Why do you weep?_

_What are these tears upon your face?_

_Soon you will see_

_All of your fears will pass away_

_And you'll be here in my arms_

_Just sleeping_

**TBC…**

**Author's Notes: **Lyrics above taken and remixed from "Into the West" by Annie Lennox on the "Return of the King" soundtrack. Some of it just seems to fit the moment.


	22. Wounds torn Open

**Author's Notes:** You know, I wrote loads of this chapter, and Works shut down on me. I'd only saved up to half way, so you can imagine my frustration ( and cussing) when the faux-polite window pops up and says 'Works has encountered an error and will shut down' (!£$#?!!!!!!!) 'Would you like to report this problem to Microsoft' (!£$%#&!!!!) 'You will need an internet connection to do so' (%$&£!????). You get the picture… Why can't it just save my work for me first! I'd appreciate that… _sigh_ So, this isn't quite as good as the original draft, but I've salvaged what I can from my poor memory.

**A Test of Faith**

**Chapter 22 - Wounds Torn Open**

The Jedi Temple was quiet. Well, technically, it wasn't, with the halls filled to the brim with Padawans, Knights, teachers and Masters. A new wave of infantile, future Jedi had filled the crèche, and everyone else were obliviously getting on with their lives. Jinn felt that he and his master hadn't yet escaped their bubble, their void where life was refusing to grind onwards.

He sighed, perched on the base of a pillar in one of the Temple's gigantic halls. He watched with little or no interest as Jedi paced back and forth on the carpeted floor before him, leaning his head against the pillar as he swung one of his feet beside the base and knocked his heel against the stone. He wasn't bored, he was just empty, and he had no will to do anything. He hadn't seen much of his master for the past four days, though he knew that Master Dooku was to receive his 'proper' judgment today, following his conduct back on Colla IV. He hoped that the Council would be lenient - the death of Allyaah had been punishment enough.

Tahl was busy today, as were most of the other Padawans Jinn had any inkling to hang about with, so he had resolved to just sit here and pray that his master would be all right. In the back of his mind, however, he was also hoping that his master wouldn't be taken away from him. He wanted to become a Jedi Knight trained by Dooku, and Dooku alone.

Serenn was beginning to get the impression that no one wanted to be near him. As he walked to the High Council, he found that virtually every group of Padawans or Knights he passed would veer as far around him as possible, as though the sadness and bitterness he currently carried within his heart was contagious. He didn't care right now - he'd rather be left alone than pitied and consoled.

He turned into one of the training halls, deciding to take a shortcut through it, but soon wished he hadn't when, the door closing behind him, he found the opposite exit guarded by Syfo-Dias. He halted in his tracks and swallowed; part of him suspected that Dias had been waiting for him, but the more cautious part of him, the part that he rarely paid attention to, told him that he was in enough trouble without adding further accusations of a Council member aggravating him to the pile. This part further advised for him to turn around and go the long way, but this was soon overridden by the traditional Dooku philosophy of 'don't be a coward'.

They stood there, some kind of face-off imminent.

"Master Dooku," Vance began, pacing away from the door behind him and approaching the Jedi Master from across the hall, "Fancy us meeting at such an hour?"

_'Fancy that, indeed,'_ Serenn sneered within his mind, keeping the thought there. He also began to trek over the hall, the giant space seeming to close in around him as he came nearer and nearer to his long-time nemesis.

"The Council have some worthy penalty in store for you, I'm led to believe," Dias went on, greying hair tied back behind his head, dark eyes filled with an evident pleasure, a petty thing for any Jedi to have; but they were all only human, in the broadest sense.

"I can hardly wait," Serenn murmured.

They stopped within a metre on each other, eyes locked, hands balled into fists by their sides.

Syfo-Dias's face dropped suddenly, "I said that you'd pay for your mistakes with people's lives, and you have," he hissed.

"I warned you," Dooku countered, "I warned you all against implicating this _stupid_ mission. The fault is not mine."

"Allyaah is dead because of you," Syfo-Dias stated loudly. His voice reverberated around the hall, fading into a chill silence.

Serenn didn't flinch. Only those who looked deep into his eyes would see the hurt this caused him, the pain he tried his hardest not to show, "I do not deny it," he replied quietly, "And her death wears heavily on my heart."

"As it should," Vance snapped, stepping forward and entering Serenn's personal space, "As it bloody well should."

Serenn didn't revert his gaze from Vance's. The atmosphere between them was frigid. Common sense was yelling at Dooku to turn, telling him to for once be a good boy and walk away. It hurt his pride to do it, but he did, and, brushing past Syfo-Dias, he began stepping away toward the opposite side of the room.

"Don't you turn your back on me, Serenn!" Dias suddenly yelled.

Dooku halted, a frown creasing his forehead. He looked back over his shoulder, seeing Dias steadily turn toward him, fists shaking by his sides, eyes burning with nothing short of rage.

"You've caused this Order much grief," Vance continued, pointing at Serenn, "Master Yoda took you in, not for your potential, but because you were dangerous! You had a fiery, independent streak, and it's clear to me now that you should never have been trained! Even Master Yoda couldn't tame the beast that you were. And that you still _are_."

Dooku hadn't been expecting this. He was too busy getting his head round it all to act, whilst Vance continued to insult him.

"You've caused many Jedi deaths, and now even that of your friend. I'm surprised you managed to salvage your Padawan from the mission!" He shook his head, "I've lost all the faith I had in you, Serenn… what little that was. Next time, just make sure that it is _your_ life that is forfeit."

Dooku didn't know where to start; his lip trembled, his inner pain frothing into a renewed anger at his old rival. How dare he…?

"It was you who selected me for that damned mission," he growled, "Not I."

"You've put Master Yoda's training to waste!" Syfo went on, "_I_ should have been trained by him, and I would have been, too, if it hadn't been for the need for him to train _you_!"

That was enough. Serenn couldn't even remember running, he just remembered charging at Dias and driving him down onto the wooden floor. He certainly remembered Vance's fist smashing into his nose next, though, for it took him a moment to regain his bearings as blood oozed down his face and onto his robes. By that time, he'd had another kick in his ribs, and Vance's blue lightsabre had made an appearance. Ah, so it was going to be like that… the old-fashioned way.

Serenn scrambled back to his feet, green 'sabre soon in hand, before they plunged into a savage grudger's duel. Their battle was without finesse or elegance, it was just the older man's equivalent of a boy's playground fight, a rivalry put to the test by physical hostility.

Their ravaged breaths shook the calm air and their 'sabre's sliced the Temple's delicate fabric of peace,bringing an unnatural savagery to its walls. There was a thud as Vance was winded by a kick from Serenn, another thud as Vance returned the favour by elbowing Dooku's back. Blood spattered across the polished floor from Serenn's nose as Vance forced him to retreat across the hall. It wasn't long until Dooku regained the upper hand, however, and he took a firm grip of his weapon and drove it back into Syfo-Dias, swinging wildly, yet with clear calculation. Vance felt panic begin to grip him now as, retracing his steps backwards, he found himself with no room but to parry Dooku's assaults. It wasn't long until he lost his footing and stumbled onto his rear, thenceforth losing the grip of his lightsabre, which went hurtling away across the floor. He sat and panted as Serenn's green blade looked him right in the face.

Dooku just stood there, glaring down on Dias. He'd always been the stronger fighter, and nothing would ever change that.

There was the sound of a door opening behind them, and suddenly, Serenn felt his weapon torn from his grasp. He looked behind him and saw Master Yoda stood there, clutching the weapon in his tiny hands. Next to him, Master Rancisis now held Syfo-Dias's lightsabre.

"To my apartment you will go, Serenn," Yoda said quietly.

Dooku raised his arm back to his nose, which continued to bleed, and, after throwing Dias one final scowl, left the hall.

Vance was still breathing deeply, waylaid on the floor.

"Vance, with Master Rancisis you shall go," Yoda added before he trundled on after Dooku.

Syfo-Dias exchanged a stinging glare with Oppo Rancisis before he, too, made to leave.

* * *

Serenn sat cross-legged on the floor of Yoda's apartment and drew lazy circles on the floor with his free hand whilst he waited, his sleeve still held up to his nostrils as the bleeding refused to abate. It was like old times, being back here again at what had once been home, waiting to be rebuked for another brawl with Vance. Their rivalry had been legendary; there were always rivalries between Padawans - hormones did that to them - but none on the scale of Serenn and Vance's. They'd been something else: the infamous two.

Soon, the door swished open behind him and the tap-tap-tap of Yoda's cane announced the little Jedi's arrival. There was a clink as Yoda dropped Serenn's lightsabre hilt onto the carpet, and rolled it toward him, before he hobbled round before the lofty Jedi and took a seat on his stool. They were at least now on the same eyelevel.

"Oh Padawan," he sighed, "Old Padawan…"

Serenn gave Yoda a quick glance, but then returned to his circles on the carpet. He was sure he could just about make out the imprints from his circles of years gone by.

"Never walk away, you could. Why never could you walk away?"

Serenn removed his sleeve from under his nose, satisfied that the bleeding had stopped, and, dropping it by his side, said, "Master, I can't walk away. Not from him. He just makes me so angry, so…"

"But walk away you should!"

"I tried, master… I almost walked away, but he… _OW_!" Serenn flinched as Yoda's cane came down on his head; he gave his master a look of utmost injustice.

"No! Good enough 'almost' is not!"

Serenn rubbed his head and continued to stare.

"Weak you are. Always weak."

"Weak?" Serenn spat.

"Yes, weak!" Yoda said, giving the cane a nod toward Dooku; Serenn backed up a little at this, wary of the cane; "Physically, perhaps not," Yoda continued, prodding one of Dooku's biceps at this, before swiftly moving it to Serenn's head and giving it a light tap, "But mentally, yes. Walk away you should have. Always you should have walked away, but never you did."

"Master, I couldn't walk away!"

"Walk away, you could!"

"I can't walk away from everything!"

"Said that, I did not… Just know when to walk away, you should."

"For Force's sake…"

Serenn turned away. He was moody now. He was staring into the corner he'd always stared into when he was being told off; Yoda had taken to calling it his sulking corner, and it seemed that it was that, even now.

Yoda softened a little at the sight of this childish gesture in his former apprentice, "Old Padawan," he said, reaching out and placing a little hand on Dooku's shoulder, "So proud you are. Too proud you are."

Dooku was in the kind of irritable mood where he wanted to tell Yoda to talk with proper grammar, but he'd risked that once before, years ago, and got the cane on the head back then. He simply settled by heaving a deep sigh, and let the darkness close in on him; "But he was right, I guess…" he murmured, "It was my fault."

They were talking about the recent mission now, and Yoda, who picked up on these things, knew it; "No, Padawan, your fault it was not. Nothing you could have done. The seeds of death long ago were planted within Master Jiao. Waiting to get out, they were."

Serenn turned even further away now, shuffling out of Yoda's reach. He brought his knees up to his chest and clutched them to him, burying his head between them. He didn't want anyone, especially his old master, to see him cry.

"Oh, Serenn," Yoda said gently, "Even to me of this will you not speak?"

Dooku made no reply; he was trembling a little with the anguish he was keeping hidden between his arms and knees. He didn't want his master's sympathy or comfort.

"Always keep locked up, your problems, you do. As a boy and now as a man. Only more trouble does this cause you." He turned to the windows where light was peeping just through the blinds. "One with the Force, Allyaah is now. Many Jedi have I watched come, grow and go. Always pains me it does when this life they leave, but let go, I must. One with the Force they become and always close to them I feel, because all around they are. On this plain they have gone, but forever with the Force they will remain."

"But you didn't cause their deaths, Master!" Serenn suddenly yelled, his head rising up from the darkness in which he wallowed, "You didn't cause them!"

* * *

Qui-Gon kicked the wall, and again regretted it afterwards; "I can't believe him!" he griped as he returned to the task at hand and shoved his few belongings into a rucksack, "Fancy getting suspended!"

Tahl observed him from the doorway of his apartment, arms folded; "It could have been much worse. He could have been expelled."

"Not just for that," Qui disagreed, "_He_ could have done worse. And besides, the Order needs him too much. They'd never expel him. He'd have to be the one to give the word if he ever was to go. He always gets the last word."

Qui tossed his rucksack over his back, "I'm gonna miss him. Suspended for three months?"

"That's only 12 weeks, Qui. You know, eighty-four days?"

"Yeah, but that's a quarter of a year! Considering most humans only live seventy to eighty years, that sounds like a big chunk of my life!"

"Well, just be glad it wasn't twelve months."

"Oh, I am… But it means three months with _him_!" He kicked a stool over and, still, regretted it afterwards; "It seems like a double punishment to me."

Tahl sympathised with Qui - his replacement tutor for the next few months was none other than Syfo-Dias. It seemed to her too much of a coincidence for this not to be a penalty on Vance's behalf - forced to train his enemy's Padawan - as well as seeming as something of a sentence to Qui-Gon, even though he didn't warrant any.

"Don't worry, Qui-Gon, " she said, "It'll be over in no time."

"That's all right for you to say! You don't have to move in with the man…"

There was a brief silence in which Qui calmed down a little; "Do you think he'll be okay?"

"Your master?"

"Yes."

Tahl glanced at the floor and shrugged, "I don't know. I don't see why not. He's a tough cookie. He'll pull through."

Qui-Gon sank onto the stool he hadn't upturned, "I hope so. He's never been so depressed before."

"He lost a dear friend. You can't expect him to get over it very soon."

"How are we supposed to cope, Tahl? How are we supposed to grieve when the very notion is against the code? We should have no attachments, yet… we feel sorrow when a friend dies. We shouldn't, but we do. What are we supposed to do? Be heartless morons?"

Tahl flinched as she picked up on the slight air of resent in Jinn's voice; "I don't know," she said softly.

Jinn sighed as he got to his feet again and trotted over to his best friend; "Don't worry about it," he said, giving her a light hug as he realised the discomfort he'd somewhat stirred in her, "I'd better get going."

He entered the hall and heard the door close behind him.

"He lives right near the top floor," he griped, "As if having the Temple above the rest of Coruscant isn't bad enough…"

"You're not afraid of heights, are you?" Tahl laughed.

"No, I'm just thinking about the long trek I now have to take from the dorm to the canteen every morning…"

Tahl smiled and waved him off before turning back for her own quarters. Qui-Gon, meanwhile, pondered on what his master would do for the next few months without him, and hoped that he'd be all right.

**TBC…**


	23. Epilogue

**Author's Notes:** Oh my God! It's, it's… the END!!!! After two years or dithering over this fic, it has finally finished. It took me long enough. Thanks everyone for your support – I know this hasn't been the most perfect or well-written fic in the world, but it's been fun, and I hope you've enjoyed it. Maybe some time in future I will write another Dooku-Qui escapade, but this is it for now. MTFBWY! And roll on "Revenge of the Sith"!

**Epilogue**

**30 years later…**

_'In Memory of Allyaah Jiao - One with the Force'_

Stood alone in the Jedi 'Gardens of Remembrance', staring at the plaque in memory of his former comrade, was Master Dooku. He still appeared as noble and distinguished as ever, but his once black hair was now a faded grey, and though he had grown it back over the years, it was once again cut short, whilst his skin was lined with the wrinkles that age always brought. The tree that he had planted in Allyaah's honour long ago was now tall, lush and green. Her ashes had been laid about it.

He sighed deeply and looked up to the top of the blossoming tree - his time here was finished.

He heard gentle footsteps behind him and turned to face Madame Jocasta Nu. She gave him a friendly bow in greeting before stepping by his side and following his line of sight; the Jedi were meant to let go people when they died, but they still respected their dead, just as they respected those who had left them, the Lost Nineteen.

It would soon be Twenty.

"Madame Nu," Dooku nodded.

She nodded slightly, giving him a slight smile, though lost it to her emotions and said tearfully; "Serenn, is it true?"

He looked to her, his eyebrows rising, "Is what true?" he asked,

She shook her head faintly at his seeming attempt to cover the obvious; "I've heard that you've decided to leave, to renounce the Order?"

Serenn's eyes careened to the right, swiftly followed by the turn of his head; he stared into space for some time before he admitted, "Yes. It's true."

Jocasta shook her head, knowing what a loss to the Order this would be, especially now, at this time; "But Serenn…"

"But nothing!" he snapped, "I refuse to be constrained by this ineffective corps any longer. The reign of the Jedi is over, and corruption in the Senate is rife. My former Padawan, my dearest child, is dead now, too. What is there left for me here now? Nothing."

"You can't leave," she insisted further, stepping toward him and clutching his arms, "We need you."

Serenn softened a little at her kind gestures and her well-founded concern, and embraced her gently; "I am wasted here," he whispered, before he pried her away from him a little and looked firmly into her eyes, running a hand down her aging features. They were both growing old now.

Leaning forward, he kissed the top of her head gently; "Please understand," he said, "I'm no longer a Jedi at heart. I cannot achieve what I wish to whilst I am bound to this prison. I was born of a wealthy family, Jo' - my parents are long dead, of course, but their fortune will still fall to me once I go and reclaim it. I will inherit the title my father bore, 'Count Dooku', and from there I will consider how to satisfactorily lead the final years of my life."

He threw her one of his notoriously charming smiles and she returned it weakly.

"I'll miss you," she admitted, "So few Jedi are there left of your calibre."

He laughed, "You flatter me, madam."

There was a pause during which the sombre aura reinstated itself over the pair.

"Many things have been taken from me because of the restraint of the Jedi Order," Dooku went on in a low tone, looking back to Allyaah's tree.

Nu again followed his eyes and sighed discreetly, "You still miss her?" she asked.

Serenn glanced at her and nodded reluctantly - he wasn't one to show his innermost feelings to just anyone; "Yes," he replied. He paced away from Jocasta and dropped to his knees before the tree. Nu watched him uncertainly.

"I feel responsible for her death," he explained, "I always have. I blamed Master Syfo-Dias then, in some way, but no, it was my fault. The burden will be mine to bear until the end."

Jocasta approached him from behind and placed a hand on his shoulder; "Tragedies happen, Serenn. It's fate."

"I just wasn't strong enough," he sighed, "I know I could have saved her, but…"

Nu was shaking her head, "No, you couldn't," she lightly contended.

Serenn snorted in defiance, "Yes I _could_," he relayed.

Another silence ensued.

"I loved her, Jo'," he stated openly.

Jocasta listened patiently and gave his shoulder a rub; "I know you did," she whispered.

Serenn continued to stare, recalling memories of his friend and the mission that had killed her; "What would have happened it she'd lived?" he mumbled, "What if Syfo-Dias had got whiff of what my Padawan had picked up on so easily?"

Jocasta didn't answer. She just stared at the plaque beneath the tree.

He shot to his feet, "Syfo-Dias would have had me expelled," he determined. He placed his hands on his hips and looked up to the skylight above. He swallowed, shaking his head and admitted, "I've always wanted a family, you know." He saw no point in keeping any secrets from Nu, especially since he may never see her again, "A family of my own. 'The Jedi are your family' we were always told, but were they? A family that you couldn't grow close to, because attachment was forbidden?"

Jocasta found herself again shaking her head, "You were living a dream if you wanted that."

He gave her a bitter glance; "I couldn't help if I yearned for mere normality!" he hissed, and the tear that rolled down his face was obvious. It looked so out of place.

"Look what life has done to me!" he growled, "Tortured me constantly! Well, no more. I leave it all behind and seek for something better. I seek a future for this galaxy before it destroys itself."

Jocasta embraced him compassionately, "Please take care, Serenn," she said.

He stroked her hair back and gave her a parting kiss on the forehead, "And you, my dear," he said.

He gave one last glance to Allyaah's tree and, taking his lightsabre from his belt, placed it by the roots; "Forgive me, Allyaah," he whispered, and glancing up to the skies, he added, "Forgive me, Qui-Gon," before he brushed passed Jocasta and left.

Jocasta found herself staring at the lightsabre hilt for some time, before she shook her head and paced solemnly out of the gardens.

**The End**

**Final Note:** I made up the Gardens of Remembrance thing. I just reckon it fits. Later peeps!


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